


Special Homicide Unit

by tititenis



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Mythology, Awkward Clarke, Detective Lexa, Doctor Clarke, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff and Smut, Folklore, Happy Ending, Jealous Clarke, Jealous Lexa, Magic-Users, Police, Protective Clarke, Protective Lexa, Psychic Abilities, Romantic Fluff, Sad Clarke, Supernatural Elements, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-08
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-05-31 23:55:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 19
Words: 77,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6492850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tititenis/pseuds/tititenis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Detective Lexa Woods gets the surprise of a lifetime when Marcus Kane offers her the opportunity to join the Special Homicide Unit: A special branch of the Boston PD that is in charge of finding and arresting the criminals that are not 'quite as human' as they appear to be. What she doesn't expect is meeting and falling for the quirky and beautiful Dr. Clarke Griffin, Chief Medical Examiner, who has her own demons to face.</p><p>Originally called Boston Special Homicide Unit but decided to rename it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Alley to Hell and Back

**Author's Note:**

> After being so tired of the 100 and the way the show is going, I decided to do some AU Clexa that had them be happy and in love and being the badass women that they are. This story is similar to one I wrote many years ago (if by any chance you find the concept similar then it's because of that). As you will see it is kinda a Rizzoli and Isles theme (because of the professions and the way the background of each of them is built), but it quickly becomes something of its own (as you will find out). Do give it a chance!

_"Alexandra Woods why do you have to be so stubborn?"_ Lexa heard her father's voice in her head.

It was not the fact that she was stubborn, because she wasn't. _Who am I kidding? I am stubborn,_ she corrected herself _._ It was more the fact that her partner was just so slow and dumb that if it depended on him; the killer could have easily run away.

"Come on Murphy, what the hell are you waiting for?!" she screamed at him when they saw the killer moving away from them while he fired his gun. Lexa instantly went to hide behind a big trash can in order to avoid a random bullet. Nevertheless, Murphy was not quick enough and one of the bullets grazed his leg.

When she heard that the shots stopped, Lexa quickly went and took a look at him.

"How bad is it?" she asked him fiercely. "And don't be a pussy about it."

Murphy looked at her shyly. "Not so bad but I can't walk." he said quietly.

"Call dispatch and tell them our situation. I'm gonna try to find him." Lexa told him while running at the direction where their shooter had been heading.

Hoping to be fast enough to catch up to him, Lexa started to move her legs as fast as she could. One thing that she was now proud of was her tendency to run long distances, keeping herself in shape just in case a situation like this occurred. Many times Lexa had seen criminals try to run away, futile attempts because they somehow forgot that police usually came with partners to cover them. Still, it never hurt to be capable of catching them if they tried to escape arrest. And the chasing part made things become more fun and interesting.

Moving towards the end of the street, Lexa instantly noticed that she was in a dark alley with no exit. Stopping to take a quick look around her, she scoffed in anger and annoyance. Stupid Murphy for busting their arrest. 

_Probably went in another direction,_ Lexa thought to herself.

Lowering her gun, Lexa started to put it back in the holster, but  as soon as she did she felt a body crash with hers. Dizzy from the hit, she stood up and saw the murderer looking at her with crazy eyes and his gun pointed directly at her. Well fuck.

 _This is so not good,_ Lexa decided. She knew that she had to distract him if she wanted to get a enough time to take her own gun out.

"You don't need that." Lexa said while motioning for his gun. "Wouldn't it be better if you lower it and we talk?"

He started to laugh, making Lexa hold her breath. "You think I'm really that dumb?" he said with amusement. "That a little chitchat will make me forget about the gun in my hand?" he added while pointing it at her.

"'I never thought that because I know you are really smart. Smart enough to be capable of fooling the Boston PD, myself included." Lexa said, hating to admit this to him.

"That I did." he said more to himself than to her. "And it wasn't that difficult. You see, the only thing I had to do was give you what you wanted to have."

"And what was that?" Lexa asked him while taking a look at the gun in her holster. It wasn't completely in, this perhaps giving her a chance to draw it faster.

"An easy and agreeing suspect." he added while laughing. "When you have the 'advantages' that I do, you can get away with anything."

"Advantages?" she continued asking while looking at him again, hoping the conversation was distracting him.

"Yes, the ability to control a man and make him do and say what you want him to."

 _So now he is a hypnotist,_ Lexa almost scoffed at him but decided not to based on her current situation. She pretended to be surprised. "Can you really do that? I thought it was a trick made by magicians."

He looked offended enough at her last remark. "What magicians do IS a trick. But what I do, trust me, it's real enough." he said while a smile showed on his face. "Would you like me to try it on you?"

Lexa was surprised by this remark and maybe this was the opportunity that she so desperately needed. It was a gamble but she had no other choice. She nodded.

"Splendid." he said while clapping his hands. He lowered his gun just enough to open his palm.

While he closed his eyes, Lexa started to quietly take out the gun. But the man just stayed with his eyes closed, murmuring some things that Lexa couldn't make out. Out of nowhere, Lexa felt her hands numb and the gun that was in her hand was slowly slipping away. Perplexed by this unwanted action, she tried to run towards him but her legs were also feeling slow. For some strange reason, Lexa's body started to feel like a wax candle; slowly burning and melting. She looked up and saw the man staring at her with amusement in his eyes (that had somehow turned into a strange shade of yellow).

 _That's it,_ Lexa thought. _If I keep looking at his eyes then he will have control over me._

She tried to close her own but felt them too heavy, probably an effect of the man's control on her body. Completely under his control, Lexa's capacity to inhale air started to diminish, as if it was becoming harder and harder for her to breathe. She understood right away what he was doing to her, and if he succeeded, then another body would be on the morgue of the Boston PD with Dr. Pike examining it. Quite disgusted by the thought of that atrocious man doing her autopsy, Lexa had enough strength to look away from the murderer's eyes, instantly regaining control of her arms. When this happened, she quickly took her gun out and fired a shot at the arm of the man. Only when she heard his hollowing scream followed by his body dropping to the floor did Lexa allowed herself to open her eyes.  

"How did you do that?" he asked bewildered.

Instead of answering, Lexa took a piece of her shirt and tore it off, quickly covering his eyes. "I just thought of Dr. Pike making my autopsy." she answered him while looking away when she heard the sirens.

Expecting to have the usual team meet her, she instead saw black cars with black plates stop and park near the alley. Not liking this at all, Lexa grabbed her gun and carefully pointed it to one of the cars.

"Drop your weapon Detective Woods, we are not the enemy." she heard a man speak through a megaphone.

"But you are also not a friend." she answered back, keeping her gun up.

"Not yet." he said. "Perhaps if you trust us then maybe we could be."

Lexa quickly looked around her and saw men and women in suits swiftly make their way towards her, no guns in their hands. This made her lower her own and out of courtesy put it away. She saw the man that had the megaphone come out of one of the black cars and made his way towards her. Lexa noticed that he was probably in his fifties, _a little too old to still be in the force,_ she thought to herself. He just smiled.

"You are probably right." he told her. Lexa looked at him, expecting further explanation to the previous statement. "I am a little bit too old to still be in the force."

Lexa just stared at him with complete shock. She knew that she didn't say the sentence outloud. Perhaps she was imagining things and she did say it.

 _Wouldn't be the first time I did something like that,_ she thought yet again. 

"My name is Sergeant Detective Marcus Kane. And you are Detective Alexandra Woods." he finished while taking her hand. "Your reputation precedes you."

"I prefer Lexa, sir." she shook his hand while keeping her eyes on him.

This conversation was only making her be more and more confused. She had never seen this man in the Boston PD and a thing that made her feel proud of herself was the fact that she knew every police officer that worked there. Also, she never told him her name, and the fact that he knew that about her scared her a bit. Especially after that encounter with that strange man.

"Not a man." he said quietly.

Lexa looked up to him in complete shock again. "How can you tell me that he is not a man? I mean look at him."

"Yes, he looks like a man, but he is not. Or are you forgetting what he did to you a few moments ago?" he told her somberly.

Lexa remembered the feeling of weakness, of loss and fear of not being capable of controlling her own body.

"You were really lucky, not many people are capable of escaping the Stare of Medusa."

She laughed at this remark although it made the moment become more tense. "Medusa as in Medusa the mythological creature that turned people to stone?" Lexa said sarcastically.

"Yes, although he doesn't turn them to stone, he can basically tell a human to do what he wants and the human will do it."

Lexa just looked at him, shock in her face again. "When he told me he had abilities at first I refused to believe him. And the only reason why I even indulged him was so I..."

"Could have a chance to escape." Kane finished for her. "Yes, I know."

"You seem to know everything." Lexa muttered quietly.

"Well, those are the usual advantages of being capable of reading minds." he said while smiling softly.

"Ok, you gotta be shitti..." she started to say but then stopped, remembering how Kane seemed to always be a step ahead of her, even answering the questions that she didn't ask outloud. "Why are you telling me this? Because I assume that all of this..." Lexa pointed at the scene. "Is not meant to be known by your everyday cop."  

"I'm telling you all this because you survived something that most humans do not." Kane said sadly. "And this makes you special. Special enough to be considered for a promotion." he finished while motioning for her to follow him to the car.

Lexa thought about it and decided to do as the man asked, thinking that she had nothing to lose and too many questions that needed to be answered.

"We are a special part of the Boston PD, one that specializes in what you could say are strange and unnatural killings." Kane started explaining while giving her a file, one that they had made on the killer that she had just captured. "We tend to travel around the world and help the police to solve these cases. All lieutenants of the homicide departments are aware of our existence and, if deemed necessary, contact us when they see irregularities. This is why we are here in Boston, strangely not doing our job for the first time because you did it for us." he said while smiling and looking at her. "I don't do this often, but one of our lead detectives decided to retire and that means that a spot has opened. Would you be interested in joining our ranks?"

Lexa just stood there completely speechless, not believing what she was hearing. This man,  who had appeared out of nowhere, told her about this weird organization and at the same time offered her a place in it. It seemed like out of a science fiction movie.

"How do I know that you are telling me the truth?" Lexa whispered.

"You don't. But if you accept the job, I will call Lieutenant Jaha right away so he can approve your transfer to our unit."

"What would I tell my family and friends when they realize that I no longer work on the homicide department?" Lexa asked quietly. "I waited my whole life to be able to do so, to tell people that women are capable of having and doing the same job a man could do. And here you're asking me to throw that away for something that may or not be true."

Kane looked at the young detective softly, liking the woman more and more with each passing moment. "You will tell them that you got promoted and that you will now start working in the Special Homicides Department of the Boston PD. Which ironically is in Boston." he added while smiling warmly. "Besides, isn't what happened to you today enough proof that there's something out there? Something that cannot be explained by logic?"

Lexa smiled at him, also liking his answer. She took a long breath, thinking that she was too stubborn to just let this go. So with that in mind she grabbed his hand and held it tightly. "When do I begin?"

CLCLCLCL

When Lexa told her family about her promotion they were completely static. At first they burned her with questions such as 'why didn't you tell us sooner?' or 'how is it that you didn't know about this promotion before?' and to each one of them Lexa gave them the answers that Kane had told her to memorize.

After accepting his offer, Lexa got in touch with Jaha and got his approval for her transfer, the man not being shy about telling her that she would be missed. Nevertheless, Lexa was excited about working with Kane and the rest of people that were part of the unit. When she asked him more questions about them, Kane told her that the unit had their own headquarters, equipment, guns and personnel. Still, he also said that he couldn't talk about any of the employed people until she met them personally.

She didn't understand the reason why Kane wouldn't inform her about her fellow agents, but the man just told her that some of them were more prudish about their job and physicality than others. He even explained that after the unit had some difficulties in defining them, they just decided to allow people to introduce themselves to newcomers, which ironically didn't turn out to be a lot.

Wondering if she would ever be called, since the cases that they took were seen as unique and strange, Lexa was surprised when the next day she heard her phone ring and saw that Kane was calling her. Earlier that morning she had been playing basketball with her brother Lincoln, who in one strange moment of distraction, took the ball away from her while hitting her nose with his shoulder.  Immediately feeling the impact on her right side of the nose, she decided to stop the game and put a towel on her nose, which had earned her a scolding from her father that only ended when she got Kane's call.

Knowing that her day was going to become way better, Lexa smiled while answering.

"Woods."

_'We have been called to consult on a case. Get ready so I can pick you up on my way to the crime scene.'_

"Are we going to Paris, Rome, Spain?" Lexa started to blabber, too excited about the possibility of travelling.

 _'We are going to Beacon Hill.'_ Kane answered her while laughing. _'It will be good to see how you move around this new environment, and since it's in Boston I will let you lead the investigation with my supervision and the presence of a partner.'_

Lexa was too excited to answer him after this opportunity and instead she just nodded while hanging up. She then ran towards her room, going around the stash that she kept at her father's place just in case something like this happened. Lexa wanted to impress, and after brushing her hair and choosing a light red shirt to go along with her grey suit, she went outside her father's house as soon as she saw the now familiar black car stop right next to the sidewalk. Opening the door, she saw Kane smiling at her while making space for her to sit. She sat down and was immediately handed a folder.

"This is the third murder during the space of two weeks." he said while somberly looking at the photos. "The killer chooses couples and makes the husbands watch how he rapes their wives.  After he's done he then kills the men, quickly followed by the women. He makes a clear incision in their neck, too perfect to be surgical, and drains them."

Lexa looked at him surprised. "A vampire?" she asked curiously. "I thought they were a myth."

"Well, they are Lexa. But there truly are some creatures that feed on blood in order to survive.  The fact that scares us is the ritual behind the killing and how precise the killer seems to be. Boston PD decided to contact us when they found the third couple this morning. They lived in Beacon Hill."

Lexa looked up to him. "But how are we going to explain to the team that is already at the scene our presence? I mean, I bet no one knows about your unit."

"Yes, no one knows. Nevertheless, one member of our team has a very high position in the Boston PD, which makes things way easier for us. Bureaucracy is not as bad as it could be thanks to her."

Lexa was going to ask him who this person was when she felt the car stop. The house where the couple lived was nothing but extravagant and quickly they made their way to the front of it. She immediately noticed a woman, probably in her mid twenties, waiting for them; a look of sickness in her eyes. Lexa laughed internally, quickly understanding that this woman had a light stomach.

"Detective Woods, meet Detective Trikru , your partner." Kane said while pushing her forward so they could shake hands.

"Pleasure." the woman said quietly, embarrassment in her face.

"Pleasure is all mine." Lexa said while looking at her. "Has the rest of the house been processed?"

"Not yet, would you like me to start on that?" she asked her, thankfulness in her eyes.

"If that wouldn't be a problem." she said while smiling at her softly. "I will find my way around the house." she added while going inside.

It wasn't so difficult to find the living room where the two bodies were. She had to just follow the bloody path that was probably left by the killer. Careful to not step on anything that could be evidence, Lexa came face to face with the gruesome scene and took a deep breath. Now she felt bad for mocking Trikru, especially because the scene was terrible to see: The walls were filled with blood that had probably splashed from the cut made by the killer. Her gaze then turned towards the carpet, immediately noticing that there was a teacup on it, along with a plate. Moving forward to get a closer look, Lexa stopped herself when she noticed a woman standing in front of the couch, obviously examining the body.

She had heard about Dr. Clarke Griffin before. Being the Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was no small feat at all. Although she never had the opportunity of working with her, the couple of detectives that did said that Dr. Griffin was brilliant but strange, unattached and unemotional, giving her the nickname of Queen of the Dead. Still, Lexa didn't see those things while staring at the blonde woman. Instead, she noticed the way she was carefully and delicately touching the body of the man that had died, a fact that made Lexa's heart swell: Dr. Griffin was treating the victims with respect and care, as if they were just in a deep sleep waiting to wake up.

When Pike went with her to the scenes, he was too busy boasting about his expertise and careful analysis that when he actually did the autopsies they were all a mess. The man was not incompetent, and he did graduate from Harvard, which made him have the enough credentials to be a little more than an average medical examiner. Nevertheless, the woman in front of her was treating the dead with the respect they deserved.

Lexa quietly made her way towards the blonde, almost as if she was being pulled by an invisible force. The woman in front of her was breathtaking, and most ironically, totally unaware of the effect that she had on the people surrounding her. Lexa looked around the room and noticed that the rest of the men were just as perplexed as she was, mainly asking themselves the question: _What is she even doing here?_

She stopped her thoughts about the woman when said woman turned away from the body and raised her eyes, almost as if she knew someone was looking at her. Lexa noticed the moment the blonde became aware of her presence, surprise in her blue eyes that quickly changed to concern. She quickly stood up and came towards her, which made Lexa freeze and hyperventilate with excitement. Probably doing what the brunette least expected her to do, the doctor grabbed her chin with soft hands and decidedly moved her face around, looking around her profile before placing herself in front of Lexa.

"Hairline fracture of the nasal bone above the lateral nasal cartilage." she said while looking again at Lexa's nose and then focusing on the dead body in front of them. "It's not disfiguring."

"Looks pretty disfiguring to me." Lexa heard Kane say while looking at the body too.  

Lexa just laughed, knowing what Dr. Griffin meant. She had noticed that the blow to the nose that she got from Lincoln had left a bruise. "I knew there was something else going on there. Could you pop this out for me?"

Clarke just smiled, delighted by the response that she got from the detective. "Can't you do something safe, like yoga?" she answered her back while taking her gloves out and facing the woman.

Lexa just smiled warmly at the remark, suddenly becoming nervous by the closeness that she was sharing with Dr. Griffin, who was now placing her fingers on her face so she could look at her nose more clearly.

"Might hurt a little." she heard her say.

"That's ok." Lexa answered, already accustomed to feeling pain. What she didn't expect was the loud pop that came after that, which made her yelp a little. It wasn't so painful but it surprised her.

"Ouch, a little?" she asked her sarcastically.

Clarke just smiled. "Put some ice on it for the next 24 hours so you don't look like Mike Tyson." she told her while grabbing her nose again and moving it a little, making sure that everything was fixed.

"Well, now that everything is fixed." Kane said suddenly, making both women remember that he was there during the whole exchange between them. "I thought I should introduce you two to each other, but from what I can see it seems that you got things handled."

"I'm Detective Lexa Woods." the brunette said while shaking the blonde's hand.

"So you must be the famous Detective that I have heard so much about." Clarke smiled at her warmly. And she wasn't lying.

Clarke Griffin had heard quite a lot about Detective Woods and how she was one of the best detectives that Boston PD had. Becoming the youngest cadet to ever become detective, Lexa Woods excelled at all of her exams at the academy, not intimidated by the fact that she was working in an environment full of men. Even Dr. Pike talked about her and how smart the detective was. From all the stories that fellow workers and police officers told her, Clarke had been expecting a big and scary woman to be the owner of the image and reputation that preceded her. Instead, she was happily surprised to see that Detective Woods was very beautiful and easy on the eyes.

Clarke had tried to stay quiet about her nose, thinking that it would be rude and weird to make a remark to the new detective about it.  Nevertheless, the fact that she could clearly see the fracture had been driving her crazy and at one moment she just couldn't take it anymore. Still, what she loved the most was that the brunette had responded positively to the comment and had even asked her for help, which was way better than the many scenarios that had run through her mind.  

"I'm Dr. Clarke Griffin..."

"Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." Lexa finished for her, which made Clarke smile in recognition. "I have also heard quite a lot about you."

Lexa then moved away from Clarke to face the body and take a look at it, getting some gloves from one of the technicians that were around the house taking samples. She felt Clarke bend down right next to her, ready to explain what she had seen in the body. 

"Cause of death was cut through the throat. The object that did this cut is not made of any material known to humans, especially by the preciseness and deepness with which it cut." Clarke said while making her way then to the sofa, where she lighted it with a blue light.

Lexa didn't need Clarke explain what that was. "So he again raped the woman and made the man watch." she said.

Clarke nodded. "Both have taser marks behind their ears, which would explain how the killer tied the man and made him lie there helpless."

Lexa just looked straight. "And the woman?"

Clarke looked at Kane, who nodded. "We can't find her body."

Lexa was perplexed. "What do you mean find her body? I read this folder and the killer never took any of the bodies of the victims before."

Kane answered her instead of Clarke. "That's why the Boston PD finally called us. Because they have a body missing and not a single lead."

"There is something else you are not telling me." Lexa said while looking at both of them.

Clarke smiled at Kane. "You shouldn't have brought someone as smart as Detective Woods unless you were willing to share with her the whole truth."

Lexa looked at Dr. Griffin and smiled with gratitude at her, a gesture that was returned.

"That is true Dr. Griffin. Lexa is too smart for her own good." he said while quickly making his way out of the house, Lexa following closely.

Clarke went with them until the front door. "I will get ready to transport this body to the morgue and I'll wait for you until you come to do the autopsy."

Kane nodded and motioned for Lexa to follow him. She gave Clarke one last look and shrugged her shoulders, already upset about leaving the woman. Not expecting Clarke to follow her, she was surprised when she saw her walk towards her, a sway in her hips that had her temporarily distracted.

"It's really nice to finally have another woman here." Clarke said while smiling warmly. "I have to admit that I have been feeling rather lonely and misunderstood around here."

"You, misunderstood? I wonder why?" Lexa answered her sarcastically. But noticing that maybe it was a little bit too rude, she smiled warmly. "And I am glad that I'm getting the chance to work with you, Dr. Griffin, or can I call you Clarke?"

"As long as I can call you Lexa you may call me Clarke." the blonde answered her while smiling fully. "Now I don't want you to be scolded by Sergeant Kane on your first day, so go with him and I will see you soon."

"See you soon Clarke." Lexa said quietly, already embarrassed by the way her cheeks blushed by using her name.

Clarke just smiled at her. "See you soon Lexa."


	2. MIsty Water Color Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa and Clarke grow closer. Lexa learns more about people with abilities.

Lexa was making her way to the front of the house, still a little baffled and starstruck after meeting Dr. Griffin. She had expected the blonde woman to be the complete opposite of what she saw today on the crime scene. Usually Lexa judged people correctly, which was a fact that helped her a lot. But with Dr. Griffin it wasn't so easy, which was something that left her a little bit unbalanced but rather pleased. If there was one thing that Lexa valued in fellow women was their professional ambitions; and based on what she had heard about Dr. Griffin, the blonde woman had the whole package.

Lexa had to admit that she was a little mad at Kane for not telling her the whole story about the case, especially after his speech of trusting one another. Lexa hated to be lied to, even if the lie was a small one or done by omission. The truth, no matter how painful, was way better than a nice lie. This view of the world had earned Lexa a bad reputation among her coworkers during her time as a cadet: No one wanted her as their partner because she always spoke her mind and didn't hesitate to remark the mistakes of others. Lexa knew that it wasn't the best of behaviors, but in this world that she chose, one dominated by men, it was either take the ropes and drive or let them run you over. She chose the first option.

"I thought we were going to be honest and trust each other." Lexa said while looking at Kane. "And the first thing that I notice is that you're holding important information from me."

"I did it because I wanted your unbiased assessment." he said while motioning for them to go outside. "I wanted to get your opinion on what you saw while in the crime scene; a new set of eyes."

Lexa looked at him, expecting to see the hint of dishonesty in his eyes, but instead she found nothing of the sort.

The brunette exhaled. "It looks like a one man job, well planned and studied since he knew exactly where things were and he was meticulous enough to only leave evidence in one part of the house. Nevertheless, not enough evidence to match his DNA, because I assume that the Boston PD already analyzed that semen sample and didn't find anything." Lexa finished while looking at Kane for confirmation.

He nodded. "This may sound a little strange to you, especially if this is your first case, but the creature that we are hunting is one of the most ancient and dangerous ones that we could face."

"Maybe if we had this conversation one week ago I would have laughed and told you you were crazy, but after seeing all of this I'm willing to accept a little bit of craziness." Lexa smiled softly at him.

Kane smiled back at her and continued explaining. "The real expert in Cryptozoology is Dr. Griffin, but I guess that I can tell you a short description of the creature we are facing."

"Cryptozoology?" Lexa had never heard of such a thing.

"It's the study of creatures that scientist haven't found enough evidence to say they're real. But because of our 'background' we do know that they exist." Kane smirked. "The urban beliefs that people have of vampires do come from creatures like the one we're facing; who really do appear only at night and drink blood as a means of survival." Kane told her while looking to the sky.

"So you're telling me that vampires are real." Lexa had to clarify.

"The creatures that have inspired the tales about vampires are." Kane said seriously.

"Then how can we identify them?"

"They tend to be really old and smart, able to blend in with people and look as common humans. But one way of identifying them is their eyes. They're always blooded and their irises are black. Some use contact lenses, usually the ones that have abandoned drinking human blood. Nevertheless, some like our killer have refused to follow this new way of life, and are usually very careful in their killings to not draw attention to themselves. These creatures have one victim in a space spam of two weeks, which is considered normal feeding activities for them."

"But he has killed six people!" Lexa said exasperated. "Is that considered to be normal feeding habits?"

"It's not. His activities have now become a dangerous thing because they can only mean that the creature enjoys killing and is on a killing spree. But that is not our only problem. He changed his M.O by abducting the woman, which has changed things." Kane said somberly.

"Don't tell me you're suggesting what I think you're suggesting? Like convert her to a vampire as well?" Lexa asked surprised, not caring if her question was stupid or not.

"It's not impossible and I have heard some of these creatures talk about apprentices who are converted by them and followed until they reach independence from their masters." he said while going to meet with Anya, who was running towards them.

"Dr. Griffin told me to inform you that she found traces of saliva on the couch. Sadly, since the killer is not on our database we are unable to get a name. Lucky for us, what Dr. Griffin could get  from the sample was an estimate of the creature's age and stage of life in which the creature is currently at." Anya said while looking at the two of them.

"So the killer is older than what you expected?" Lexa asked.

"I don't know yet. But if it is, then the most probable reason for him taking the woman was to train her." Kane said. "I wonder what he saw in her to do this."

"When you come back to headquarters make sure to bring a picture of the couple." Lexa said to Anya. "There is something here that we are not seeing yet." she said quietly while going to the black car. "I want to be on the autopsy of the victim, if that is ok with you?" she asked Kane.

He nodded at her and smiled. "I'm pretty sure Dr. Griffin will enjoy the company."

Lexa looked at him for a while, remembering that he could read minds. This made her change her thoughts, focusing them on guns and shoes and dummies that she could hit. Anything to shift her focus from Dr. Griffin and recounting their meeting. She saw Kane look at her deep in concentration, this making her want to flee from the scene, not trusting herself and her thoughts. He smiled amusedly at her, probably aware of what she was trying to do and told her to come meet him as soon as she had some kind of lead. Lexa quietly nodded and went to the car, embarrassed enough to expect the earth to just swallow her.  

CLCLCLCL

Clarke was going over the previous autopsies done by Dr. Pike. Seriously, how that man graduated from Harvard was still a mystery to her. She dreaded talking to him, and since she was her chief, it was required to have a weekly meetings in which she would hear his complains and unconformities with the station. If her mother hadn't taken so much time in educating her about etiquette and politeness towards others, Clarke knew that she would have exploded a long time ago.

"People in this department undermine my qualifications." Pike told her angrily. "Me, a graduate from Harvard, being told what to do by a woman who barely graduated from public college." he scoffed at the last part. "I'm just glad that Detective Woods was moved to another department."

Clarke looked up in surprise. She had expected to just sit there and listen to his ramblings without paying much attention, but as soon as she heard Lexa's name she got interested.

"I thought you admired her Dr. Pike." she reminded him.

"To acknowledge that someone is smart is one thing. To admire an individual is a completely different thing." he said, also surprised that Clarke was paying attention. "Take you for example, Dr. Griffin, you are a very clever woman." Pike started to say.

Clarke looked up at Pike, daring him to continue that line of thought. He didn't seem to notice or care, perhaps too excited that he finally had the opportunity and attention of the doctor.

"But if based on years on the field, school of graduation and dedication to the job, I would be the best choice for Chief Medical Examiner. I know all of the detectives of the homicide department and they seem to like me too, which is a plus."

Before Clarke even had the opportunity to answer all of those remarks someone else talked.

"I think Dr. Pike has a very high opinion of himself, don't you agree Dr. Griffin?" she heard Lexa tell her.

Turning quickly around, Clarke couldn't take her eyes off of the detective, who was confidently making her way inside the room, smiling at Dr. Pike who was too shocked to refute. This made Clarke smile even more.

"I'm sorry for intruding, but I couldn't help myself after I overheard Dr. Pike's comments. It seemed that a little clarification was needed and I thought: Gee, maybe I can do that; since I am a detective and all of that." Lexa said while continuing to smile.

Dr. Pike seemed to find his voice and smile again, wanting her to confirm his statement. "Why of course Detective Woods, I was just explaining to Dr. Griffin how I have more credentials and favorability over her."

Lexa surprised them both by laughing. "Ok, you gotta be shitting me if you truly are that delusional."

"Language, Detective Woods." Clarke scolded her but still smiled at her remark.

Lexa noticed this and smiled too. "I'm sorry to burst your bubble, Dr. Pike, but if it depended on you, you would say that a 9mm bullet is the same as a 6mm; which you have done already." she whispered the last part conspirationally to Clarke who laughed a little.

"Also, no one likes you that much Dr. Pike. In fact, when we were notified that you would assist us on a crime scene, we used to draw a straw to see who would be the lucky one that had to go through it with you." Lexa continued saying while looking at Dr. Pike, whose smug face changed to one of embarrassment.

"I understand that you are saying this in order to make Dr. Griffin feel better, Detective Woods, which is why I will ignore your recent remarks."

"Please do not." Lexa almost screamed at him. "I have been waiting for so long to finally say these things. If you ignored them it would make me very sad." the brunette said while mocking him. 

"Well, at least in front of Dr. Griffin you are trying to be more polite towards me and not like your usual "funny" self." Pike told her while holding his breath.

"It's better being funny than "point-Dexter" the know it all, which in fact you even aren't." Lexa answered him while smiling.

Clarke was just looking at the two of them arguing, too intrigued to try to stop them from attacking each other. Also, she felt quite happy to see Lexa was taking the time to defend her from Dr. Pike and at the same time say what she had on her mind.

"Well... I'd rather be "point-Dexter" the know it all than the "Hoy Paloy!" he finally said at her angrily.

Clarke instantly held her breath, the insult making her get insanely angry at Dr. Pike. When she looked at Lexa she saw that the brunette was thinking about a way to counter his attack, oblivious to the insult just said to her. This was when Clarke realized that Lexa didn't know what a Hoy Paloy was.

"Good one Dr. Pike." Lexa told him sarcastically, trying to give herself more time and a clue of what that even meant.

"I bet you don't even know what that means Detective." he said with an air of superiority that made Clarke intervene, which was truly unlike her.

"It means "common." Literal translation is "The Great Unwashed" Clarke said quietly to Lexa, who looked at her and besides herself smiled.

"Classy, hiding your insults in Latin Dr. Pike." she answered him back,  pretty confident that she had gotten him back.

Clarke lowered her gaze, a little bit embarrassed that she didn't actually specify to Lexa the language of the insult. "It is actually Greek." she told Lexa while glancing at Dr. Pike and seeing him have a big smile on his face.

"Oh! The geek that knows Greek. Do you realize how ridiculous that makes you sound? With your fake air of superiority, what you end up doing is embarrassing yourself, which is what the department truly talks about." Lexa told him while watching his smile disappear, angriness showing instead.

"Really?! Well, they call you a bitch behind yours." he spat.

Clarke instantly got up. "You will apologize immediately to Detective Woods unless you want to be without a job by tomorrow morning." she told him angrily.

This made Dr. Pike look up at Clarke, fear in his eyes. He had never expected the Dr. to react so passionately to their discussion, and now that his job was on the line he realized that he had to be more careful about his remarks concerning Detective Woods. "I apologize for my comments and hope that they didn't offended you." he murmured angrily.

Lexa smiled and looked at him, surely taking his hand. "They didn't." she smirked. "And you are right; I am a bitch. So next time you think about comparing yourself or doubting the capabilities of Dr. Griffin,  think it better because I will find out if you do." she said while moving away from the lab, leaving the two surprised doctors staring at her. "I will wait for you until you are done Dr. Griffin."

"Don't worry, we are done." she said to Dr. Pike, who immediately got the message and left the two of them alone.

Clarke was quietly making her way to the table where the body of the man was lying. She noticed that Lexa was already putting her gloves on, expecting to be part of the autopsy in more ways that the detectives that worked with her usually did. Clarke had already been surprised when the brunette didn't react badly to the crime scene, especially when they were lying so close to the body. Not many detectives were capable of being that calmed and composed. Clarke smiled at the memory, already noticing that she was becoming quite protective, in her own way, of the brunette woman.

"What are you smiling about Doc?" she heard Lexa ask her with a hint of amusement on her face. "Sorry if I stepped out of line a few moments ago but I just couldn't stand there and hear him gloat about his 'expertise.'" the brunette explained while making a gauge sound. "I'll tell you a secret: One of the biggest reasons that I was looking forward to leaving homicide was knowing that I wouldn't have to process one more crime scene with the man." she finished while smiling.

Clarke smiled back, already liking the way Lexa expressed herself. "That's quite alright, and I do share your feelings of discontent. But, Dr. Pike, as bad as he can be, is competent enough to take charge of the easy cases, which means less work for me." she said conspirationally.

"And talking about cases, before we start to talk about ours, would you feel weird if I ask you some personal questions?" Lexa asked her embarrassed, watching Clarke smile at her while putting her gloves on, a smirk on her face. "You don't have to answer them if you don't want to."

"I guess I can indulge you with some answers to the many questions you probably have." Clarke said while encouraging Lexa to look at her.

"Are you human?" was the first thing that came out of her mouth. _Seriously Lexa, that was the first question that you thought about?!_

Clarke just smiled a little, taking her question seriously. "Yes, I am. All of the members of the unit are human."

"But?..." Lexa asked, knowing that there was something else Clarke was not saying.

"But some of us have certain "abilities" that help us and make us be considered elemental parts of the unit." Clarke explained while looking at Lexa's reaction. She saw a big smile appear on the brunette's face.

"Like Kane that can read minds?" Lexa asked excitedly. _This is just like X-Men._

"Well, not exactly. You see, the X-Men were mutants that had their DNA mutated and that allowed them to have powers. I believe that what applies to us is far more simpler than that." Clarke smiled at her. "And you said that part about the X-Men aloud." she added when she saw Lexa's face of surprise. "And what Detective Kane does is not actually read minds, although he likes to promote it as that way." she chuckled.  "What he does more precisely is see everything three seconds ahead of the normal time in the space continuum universe."

Lexa looked at Clarke as if she had just spoken Klingon. "So basically Kane is in another time frame than the rest of us and that's why he is able to know what will happen?" the detective asked insecure.

Clarke smiled brightly. "That is exactly it! You know, not many people are capable of understanding the concept of time and its different universes."

"Well, I did have a VHS of Back to the Future." Lexa said while smiling shyly. "So what ability do you have then, and how are you able to have these abilities while the rest of us humans cannot."

Clarke smiled and went to the microscope, taking Lexa's hand to bring her along. "The reason why I wanted to become a Medical Examiner was because I wanted to give a voice to the death, to help them find peace for themselves and their families. What I never understood was why it was so easy for me to follow this path, this way of life. One day, I got a letter from Detective Kane asking me to meet him and here I am." Clarke said absently. "The ability I have is to recount moments of the lives of people that have died." she said quietly.

"You can see their last moments and what happened to them?" Lexa asked horrified.

Clarke nodded. "It's a curse but also a gift. It usually allows me to help find certain things that science cannot; a face, a sentence that can lead the police to the killer."

"Have you found something about this one?" Lexa asked quietly.

"No, this is actually the first body that I will personally examine. You see, after 24 hours go by, our brain stops working, and when the brain stops working it is impossible for me to access its memories. Because that is what I watch, their memories."

Lexa nodded, not knowing what to say. Clarke noticed this and smiled at the detective warmly.

"Do not feel bad for me Lexa. As I told you, sometimes it is a gift to be able to see all of these things: I can see the love the deceased had for their families, their last good memories of previous times and so many more things." the blonde explained patiently. "I have learned that the key in living with this "ability" is to understand that one should not fear death because at the end of the day it comes to get everyone. And that is a fact."

Lexa could not stop herself from keeping her eyes away from Clarke, left speechless at how smart, intelligent, thoughtful and wonderful this woman was. And now it all made sense to the brunette; the way Clarke had acted in the crime scene was because when she looked at the victims she truly saw who the person was, their essence. It was because of this reason that Clarke always treated them with respect and care.

"Would you like to see it too?" Lexa heard Clarke ask her and this got her to focus back on their conversation and not her growing crush on the blonde woman.

Lexa looked up to her, speechless. "Is that even possible?"

Clarke smiled. "After many years of meditation and practice I have developed the ability to share what I see with the person that touches my hand." she finished explaining while stretching her hand, giving the detective the choice to do as she wanted.

Lexa was not going to lie; she was scared of what she could see; of the horror that the man lived and how painful it must have been to watch the love of his life be taken away from him by an evil man. Although Lexa had never been ignorant about the violent nature that some individuals had, it was one thing to see the results of said violence and it was another one to watch a person performing said violence. She was not comfortable about watching a man being killed.

Clarke seemed to notice this because she took Lexa's hand again and softly pulled her to where the refrigerators were, searching for an specific name in the middle of all of the compartments. Finally finding the one she was looking for, she opened it.

"From what we found out, this woman died of natural causes, a long fight with cancer. As you are aware, we are demanded by the state of Massachusetts to certify causes of death, and because of that every body is brought here to be inspected by a medical examiner. I can't promise you that you won't find something pleasant, but at least her death was natural. Would you still like to see the world through my eyes?"

Lexa looked at Clarke's eyes yet again: they were the most beautiful shade of blue that she had ever seen, sometimes even changing to green. Lexa was not going to lie to herself; she was terrified. But then she thought about those shinning eyes and she found herself calming down.  Staring at Clarke, she could see a friendly smile on her face, not pushing her to take her hand but nevertheless asking her to take a leap of faith and open herself to the new reality of the world. A world that Clarke was inviting her to join and explore.

Nodding in agreement and completely trusting the blonde woman to keep her safe, Lexa took Clarke's hand, who in turn closed her eyes and touched the temples of the death woman's head.

Lexa immediately felt herself enter a black hole, a hole that was endless and that had nothing in it. Little by little she noticed it moving forward, as if it was fast-going to a certain moment in the middle of nowhere. Closing her eyes because of the sudden light that almost blinded her, Lexa only opened them again when she felt it was safe for her to do so When she did, she immediately figured out that she was no longer in that black room. Instead, she was now in what seemed to be a white room.

Lexa tried to get up but realized she couldn't because her body was not strong enough. Noises that had been absent before became now more noticeable and the brunette turned her head around to see that there people around her. People who were crying or sleeping in tandem with her. Strangely, she heard and felt coming from her own lips foreign words that were meant to be calming and encouraging. One woman stood up from the group, one who approached her and nodded to every word she said, tears coming to her eyes near the end of Lexa's speech.

Closing her eyes yet again, Lexa went back to a time where she was walking down the street, an umbrella in her hand and a heavy dress that was too hot to wear on such a warm day. On the other side of the street there was a man waving at her, and for some reason Lexa felt butterflies in her stomach. Her whole being was demanding her to go forward and approach him, which she did. They looked at each other and for a while both said nothing at all. The silence between the two of them was not uncomfortable, but it clearly showed how much they wanted to say. Nevertheless, it was the man that spoke first, who just looked at her and said: 'You finally made it home.'

Lexa opened her eyes yet again and saw that Clarke was also looking at her, a stray of tears and a sad smile on her face. The brunette woman was speechless, too shocked by what she had just experienced. It was not looking at the memories, as Clarke had put it before, but it was living the memories, which made things become more personal, more real. Now she understood clearly what Clarke had meant earlier when she said that her ability was sometimes a gift. Not knowing what else to do, and desperately wanting to let her instincts guide her, she allowed her fears to just go away and quickly hugged Clarke, who although taken aback by the gesture immediately returned it.

"That was so beautiful Clarke, thank you for sharing it with me." Lexa whispered to her while continuing the hug. _You are so beautiful. So complexly beautiful._  


	3. Mephisto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn more about Clarke and her background. We also learn the killer's identity. Trust me you're in for a fun ride!

To say that she felt restless was something that fell completely short to what Lexa had been feeling. Everything that she had seen was now haunting her, challenging her beliefs and what until recently she was sure the world was about. Did she regret her decision when she accepted Kane's offer? Maybe. The fear of the unknown was trying to make her forget what her mind kept replaying: Holding Clarke's hand, feeling the heat radiate from it and the life of a complete stranger go through her eyes in the matter of seconds. The feelings that the death woman had been feeling went through her and became her own. It was the moment she felt herself come back to reality the moment she panicked, too scared of what she felt, of what she shared with Clarke, who seemed as taken aback as she did by the memory.

Lexa knew as soon as she let go of Clarke's hand that there was something else going on between the two of them, something deeper that what they had shared a few minutes ago: Hope. The hope of an old woman who had been waiting to meet the love of her life and the happiness she felt when she imagined it happening. It had surprised both women, and Clarke had explained to her that memories didn't tend to be that filled with emotion, which meant that the woman truly loved the man. Lexa smiled at the memory, at the face of Clarke after realizing that Lexa had seen and felt the same things she had felt. She should have been worried about the strange and quick feelings she was developing for Clarke. Nevertheless, the connection between the two of them was inevitable and irrefutable. Lexa closed her eyes and started to remember what had happened after she touched Clarke's hand for the first time.

_(Flashback)_

Lexa was watching Clarke move around the table, concentrating on moving body parts and making incisions carefully around the body. This made her feel relaxed, the atmosphere calm and serene. She had never felt such at ease in the morgue, the autopsies that she had with Dr. Pike being filled by his hideous remarks. Lexa felt a hand on top of hers and saw that Clarke was looking at her expectantly.

"Did you hear what I just told you Lexa?" Clarke asked her sweetly.

"I'm sorry Clarke." she immediately apologized. "It's just, I don't know if it's even right to say that I feel like this, this peaceful in here that I just got lost in my own thoughts."

Clarke smiled. "The dead are patient and they don't judge. They don't feel pain and they understand. So yes, I do get how easy it can be to lose oneself when you are surrounded by nothing else than quietness."

"When you talk like that you sound so much older, wiser, almost as if you have already lived way more things that you still shouldn't have lived." Lexa said quietly while looking at Clarke's profile, being enchanted by it.

Clarke stared right back at Lexa, understanding and concern in her gaze. "Yes, you could say that the things I have seen have made me grow and value life way more than normally. I don't take a single day for granted, but still I try to indulge in routines such as healthy eating, working, etc. It is difficult to balance that sense of insecurity about life, of how soon it can suddenly end, with the security of living the best way possible."

Lexa just nodded, knowing that if she kept asking Clarke these questions she would feel more confused about the way she had been living her own life. Clarke focused again on the body.

"Lexa, I found something." the blonde said while using the light to point at a part of the man's throat.

"What is that?" Lexa asked.

"It seems that it is a branding mark made by a chupacabra." Clarke said quietly. "This is unexpected."

"A chupa what?" Lexa asked while following Clarke who had made her way to the computer. Moments later the brunette saw the picture of a strange creature with big teeth and crazy eyes with a goat in its mouth.

"A chupacabra is a creature that feeds itself on the blood of goats, or at least that is how they started, as animal eaters. Centuries later, with civilization moving further inside the forests and taking the goats that were usually eaten by the chupacabras, they found a substitute in human blood. Chupacabra meets "goat sucker", many being seen around the world."

"Come on Clarke, I heard the story of a man in Nicaragua who claimed to have shot a Chupacabra. When they took the animal to a lab to analyze it they found out that it was a dog. Even when science scientifically rejected the existence of the animal, the man still said that he shot and killed a Chupacabra."

"And he did shoot a Chupacabra Lexa, but the research done n the creature was deemed sensitive information. Because of that, the autopsies were moved and the results of a dog were given to the media. The reason why the information of the Chupacabra was not released was because this creature is more accurate with what a werewolf would look like."

"So then the werewolves from movies were based not on werewolves, but on Chupacabras?" Lexa asked, her mind already too confused by all the information that it was absorbing.

"Yes, although that saliva that I obtained from the crime scene does fit with the profile of a Nightcrawler." Clarke said to herself, thinking about the implications of this new set of evidence.

Lexa suddenly realized what Clarke had meant when she was worried about finding more than one creatures' DNA. "So then Dracula and the werewolf are allies?" the brunette said sarcastically. "There goes the whole plot of Van Helsing to the trash."

Clarke looked up to her with surprise on her face. "You know about Van Helsing?"

Lexa just nodded, too taken aback by the seriousness of the conversation. "Everyone knows Van Helsing Clarke. Probably most people saw it because of Hugh Grant." Lexa said absently.

Instead of answering, Clarke started to move around the lab, looking for something. When she found a button she pressed it down and suddenly there was a hole on the wall.

"Shiiit." Lexa said while looking at the room filled with weapons and books. "Who are you people?"

Clarke still didn't answer her, too concentrated on the task of finding that book. When she did she smiled and took it to the front of the room, making space on the table where all her tools were.

"This book was passed generation through generation until today." she said reverently. "It belonged to a man named Van Helsing. When I read it I found it amusing, but after hearing you say his name, I remembered that he talked about a nightcrawler who could be capable of controlling any kind of creature and even some humans."

"Yeah, that creature was a vampire named Dracula." Lexa said sarcastically. "Clarke, every person that owns a DVD can tell you this. I still don't understand why Van Helsing, if it is really Van Helsing and not a fake, would write a whole book instead of trying to kill the creature."

Clarke ignored Lexa, instead deciding to silently read the book. Lexa started to move from one side to the other, hating to be ignored. "I hate being ignored." she said while looking at Clarke.

Clarke looked up and smiled apologetically, making Lexa forget her angriness. This is getting way out of hand, Lexa thought to herself.

"Forgive me Lexa, it's just that I'm so used to working alone that I tend to forget that I now have a partner." the blonde smiled shyly, as if wanting Lexa to confirm that they were partners.

Lexa nodded. "Well, you are not alone anymore, and if you have heard, not many people like me as their partner because they find me very impatient."

"From what I have noticed they seem to be right." Clarke said while smiling to herself.

"And that is just so rude to say." Lexa said while laughing. "Tell me that at least you found something interesting on that big book."

"I actually think I did." Clarke said while going to stand next to Lexa and point with her finger the paragraph that she wanted Lexa to read.

_'After many years of traveling around the world, hoping to bring justice to the ones that perished under the wrath of the nightcrawler, I finally found the town where he settled. They claim that he now lives as a human, hiding and waiting for preys to come. I'm afraid that my time is getting done, the years taking their toll on me and the remains of an old man too strong to prevent the creature from killing again. Nevertheless, what I did manage to discover was that the creature now goes by a name, a sense of identity that has made it become more dangerous, because a nameless creature can be controlled, but a name gives liberty, freedom and strength. Beware reader, the night is long and the path is dangerous, but leave everything and prepare, for when Mephisto makes its appearance it will be for the destruction of humanity.'_

Lexa finished reading the paragraph and looked at Clarke with complete awe.

"I know, I know, it is very sensationalistic that he will destroy humanity, but I truly believe that our creature's first name was Mephisto." Clarke said while getting her gloves again. "And it does fit with the fact that he has a werewolf under his control."

"Why does that word, Mephisto, sound so familiar to me?" Lexa asked quietly.

Clarke still heard her question. "Well it depends Lexa. The name has been used for many centuries. Mephisto is the German word for Mephistopheles, which is another name of the devil. Although, in German folklore, Mephisto is not the ruler of the underworld, but temptation itself. Also, I believe there was a comic made by Marvel based on this character. As you can see, the uses of the name are very global."

"So then no help at all." Lexa said while sitting down, frustrated by the lack of evidence that they had.

"Don't see it as a lack of evidence, see it as a puzzle that keeps being filled and filled." Clarke said while looking at the body on the table. "I have done everything I can with science." she murmured. "I guess it's time now to see what Mr. Whitmore will tell us."

Knowing now what Clarke meant by saying that, Lexa immediately got up and went to where the blonde doctor was standing, who was getting one her gloves off and staring at the body in deep concentration. Without really knowing what she was doing, Lexa took the other glove out of Clarke's hand and grabbed it tightly, feeling immediately the familiar pull towards the black hole.

This time everything was faster and louder, images appearing and disappearing. She didn't like how this felt, how lost she was. Closing her eyes and trying to tell her brain not to let go of Clarke's hand, she was using the blonde woman as an anchor in this unknown world. Unlike her time inside the old woman's memories, this place was not one of calmness and peace. Instead, what it was is an empty hall of fear and precipitation. Lexa could feel the panic and anxiousness the person had been feeling before he died. And she was terrified of this.

It was then that the now familiar white light appeared and Lexa knew that she was going to see now what the man saw. Preparing herself, the brunette opened her eyes and saw that she was sitting on a couch in the middle of the living room. She felt terrified, tired and scared. In fact, Lexa had never been so terrified, never felt so small and out of control. Trying to move around, she noticed that there was a man in the room. Feeling desperate, she moved more violently, immediately feeling something fall from her legs to the floor, and this noise made the man turn and look at her with hunger in his eyes. Holding back a scream, Lexa saw how he stood up from the chair and started to close his pants, just now Lexa being able to notice the body that was laying on the couch. She wanted to throw up, disgusted by what she felt. The anger quickly switched to fear when she saw the man stare deeply into her eyes, the red irises contracting with desire.

"Yes, you will be useful." he said to Lexa. "I know you will be watching this Dr. Griffin, and I do hope you are, because I guarantee you that there will be a grand finale. The reason I'm doing this is to let you all know that I am aware of who you are. I know what you fear and what you feel. Do not cross me, because many have done so and many have perished, me the sole victor of all of these battles.'

He finished and then took out his hand and touched Lexa's neck, carefully pointing the tip of his finger and cutting in one swift move. Lexa felt the surge of blood splash around the walls, weakness invading her and making her eyes close. But that was not the worse, no. The worse was that she couldn't breathe, she was drowning in her own blood while the man just looked at her with evilness. Lexa just kept on looking, waiting until the light became complete darkness.

Lexa opened her eyes again, taking a deep and long breath as soon as she did this. She looked around herself, not sure of where she was and worried about being in the living room again. Nevertheless, when she realized that the lingering fear she had experienced during the memory was gone, she just knew that she was back at the morgue.

Clarke looked up and saw that her hand was entwined with Lexa's, understanding going to her when she realized that the brunette had seen everything. Quickly taking her hand off Lexa's, Clarke made her way to the bathroom where she washed her face, the sight of tears quite obvious. She was scared, completely open and vulnerable to her fears and shocked by what she had seen. Lexa was right outside, probably feeling the fear that she had felt, each time their hands touched and they shared memories making them be more connected with each other. She knew that Lexa was not going to leave until she saw her one last time. It was this what gave Clarke enough composure to calm herself down and go out of the bathroom to talk to the detective.

She saw Lexa getting her stuff and stare at her when she heard her footsteps. Clarke smiled at her. Nevertheless, before she could say anything Lexa interrupted her.  

"What is your policy about colleagues hanging together after work Dr. Griffin?" Lexa mocked Clarke.

Clarke smiled despite herself, despite the traumatic thing that the two of them had just witnessed. "If there is wine then I don't complain."

Lexa nodded. "I guess we are in luck then because there is a bar a few blocks away from here that offer great bear and not so terrible wine." Lexa said while smiling. "Want to come?"

Clarke looked at the morgue, at the emptiness and darkness of the room and then  she turned her gaze towards Lexa and her outstretched hand, inviting her to join the light and warmth of life. Clarke smiled and grabbed it.

( _End of Flashback)_

Lexa woke up to the sound of her phone in the middle of the night, realizing that the first thing on her mind was Clarke and her sweet smile. She smiled despite herself and the urgency of the call, because for some strange reason thinking about Clarke brought her peace and serenity. Lexa knew that feeling so calm and comfortable with the doctor was something weird to feel, especially after only knowing her for one day.  Hearing the phone ring again, she got up quickly and answered it, confirming that it was Kane as soon as she heard his voice.

"Please don't tell me that we have another crime scene?" Lexa asked quietly. When Kane stayed quiet he confirmed her suspicions.

_"You need to get to Kenmore Park as soon as possible. Trikru and Dr. Griffin are also on their way. I'm afraid we found Mrs. Whitmore."_

CLCLCLCL

When Clarke finally made it to Kenmore Park she felt the cold air chill her bones. She was emotionally tired from using  her abilities two times in one day. The first time she did it because she wanted so badly for Lexa to understand how she saw things, how beautiful her gift could be and how it could help many people. Usually, when people found out what Clarke's ability could do they tended to be terrified: The idea of being so connected to the dead was something they immensely disliked. But Lexa was different, and something inside of Clarke told her to trust the brunette detective. And up until now it was paying off. The second time Clarke had used her power it was a gruesome trip, one that Lexa had also seen without her knowledge. She had been so surprised to see Lexa in the memory as well, and for a while the thought comforted her. But then that creature had threatened her and the fear had returned, more powerful than before because it now knew her name. And Clarke knew very well that the worst thing for an enemy of yours to know was your name.

After that horrible memory, Clarke had expected Lexa to interrogate her and demand answers of her. Instead, what had happened was that the brunette detective had asked her to go for drinks, something that had never occurred to her before.  It wasn't the fact that Clarke was unattractive, because she knew that her physicality always appealed to both genders. Getting the date was never a problem. What was the problem was getting them to ask her on a second date. Clarke knew that she was a little awkward at times, and always tended to say what she thought without considering the consequences. Sometimes that led to very uncomfortable moments of diagnosing her date or ones in which they asked to go to the bathroom and never returned.  

Nevertheless, when she got that drink with Lexa she realized that she felt very at ease with the detective, who kept talking to her about baseball, her cat Regina and her family. She was surprised by the intensity of her father; who loved her love very much and showed an interest in being part of her life. When Clarke thought about her relationship with her own mother she realized that theirs was cold as ice, filled with etiquette and false modesty. She didn't like it, and had found out that she had been a little jealous of Lexa, but was it really only jealousy? Clarke felt herself being attracted to the detective, and even bigger than that, curious to know more about her, to understand her and be more than just a colleague, which were things that she had never felt before. _Speaking of the devil,_ she smiled when she saw Lexa making her way towards her with a coffee in her hand. She immediately took it and drank from it.

"There goes our good nap time." Lexa said sarcastically. She then focused on the blonde woman. "How are you feeling?" she whispered to Clarke.

Clarke looked up and smiled warmly. "Thanks to you much better."

Lexa smiled back and dragged Clarke to where Kane told her the body was. Both women crouched down to see it more clearly. "It does look like Mrs. Whitmore." Clarke started to say. "Cause of death appears to be blow to the head from a heavy object." she continued while touching her skull and feeling raptures. "Several blows."

Lexa nodded. "What about the teeth?"

Clarke moved to where Lexa was pointing at and opened the dead woman's mouth, where the teeth were starting to putrefy. "Putrefaction of organs has been confirmed as a process of conversion."

"So she was going to become an apprentice." Lexa said. "And one of the two partners didn't want that to happen." the detective continued saying. "Do you think you would be able to see if a nightcrawler or a werewolf was the one that converted her?"

"As soon as I take her to the lab I should be able to start the exams." Clarke confirmed. "Another thing that stood out is the temperature. It tells me that she was killed merely a few hours ago."

"So they kept her alive almost until now?" Lexa asked. "This case stops making sense with each piece of evidence that we uncover."

Clarke nodded. "That's how it usually is with this kind of cases Lexa. Creatures start to act based on their instinct, on their traditions or necessities. Although I hate to say it, it usually takes quite a few murders in order to trace a pattern that allows us to catch the creature."

Lexa just nodded, feeling  useless. "What we do know is  that they target young wealthy couples, man and woman, and that both creatures are in a strong alliance." Lexa said. "One dominant and the other passive."

"Until he becomes a werewolf, where the two dominant personalities crash." Clarke added.

"Yes, which is what we need to start asking on the streets." Lexa said while looking for Anya  who was approaching them. "Anya, I need you to go around the low class neighborhoods and start asking the people about the nightcrawler and werewolf.

Anya nodded and left the two women alone.

"If someone is aware of the presence of these creatures it's the low class, the one that has to live with them during most of their lives." Lexa explained. "Which makes me suspect that the accomplice of our killer, the reason why he got infatuated with Mrs. Whitmore, is because he came from this low class background."


	4. Shadow Ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa learns more about the people at the Special Homicide Unit. Also, she meets a person from Clarke's past while the two women get closer to admitting their feelings.

Lexa was fidgeting and she never fidgeted. It was probably because of nerves. The last couple of days had been strange to the brunette detective, who was still getting used to the sudden changes in her new life.  To Lexa it was a new life because things that she had thought to be unnatural and unreal had turned out to actually be the opposite. Now she believed that anything was possible and not a single idea was dumb enough to not be explored. She had quickly become friends with her new partner Anya, who was a nice young woman that had transferred from Fraud. When Lexa had asked her about her special ability, Anya just laughed and said that it wasn't as spectacular as the ones Kane and Dr. Griffin had, which in reality had turned out to be quite false. The reason why Anya had turned out to be one of the best informants of the Fraud department was because  she had the ability to adapt to the physicality of any person, which to Lexa meant that Anya could become anyone she wanted to. She said that she found she had an ability during her teenage years, when desperate to be a police officer she had actually turned into the officer that she wanted to be, fact that deeply scared her. After a while, she learned to control her ability and soon enough joined the police to use those powers for good. For some strange reason, which Anya admitted to her was sometimes plain weird, Kane found out about her and asked for her help on a case, which later turned into a job opportunity that she just couldn't turn down.

"I don't know, it's like this sixth sense that he has into knowing who was abilities or not." Anya told her while making their way to headquarters.

"Well, he asked me to join and last time I checked I am very human." Lexa told him while smiling.

"Maybe, but you are very different to common humans." she told her while smiling. "And I haven't been the only one that has noticed this."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Lexa winked at her partner who hit her softly.

"Don't swing that way Woods." Anya joked. "But I was speaking of someone else."

"Someone else?" Lexa was curious now.

"It seems that you've caught the eye of some people in the department."

"Don't care. I have a very strict policy of no dating unit coworkers." Lexa explained to her partner.

"I understand." Anya smiled softly. "But I'm not only talking about coworkers."

"Then who are you talking about?" the detective asked.

"What are you doing here again?" Anya avoided to answer her question.

"I'm here to see Clarke." Lexa replied absently. "Have you seen her?"

"I bet she will be here soon. She usually takes longer because she always makes sure that the body is inside the van before leaving the scene."

"Yeah, she seems very careful about the way the deceased are treated." Lexa said dreamily.

"She's not a coworker." Anya whispered conspirationally. "She works in the unit but she's paid by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."

"I know how the department of the Medical Examiner works Anya." Lexa said while staring at her partner. "Which brings me to question why you think I would like to know that."

"Just a hunch." Anya shrugged while looking to her left. "You want to see something really cool?" she asked her with a smile on her face.

Lexa nodded.  Anything to stop Anya from sticking her nose in her business.

"The Doc is coming this way and I have been like kinda practicing an impression of you. Could I try it on her?"

Lexa just looked at her with a face of amusement. "Fine by me, but if she gets pissed I will blame you."

Anya clapped her hands in excitement and closed her eyes, her expression becoming one of deep concentration. Before her own eyes, Lexa saw how there was now another version of herself standing right in front of her.

"This is so hocus pocus." Lexa said while touching the face of fake Lexa.

"Go hide behind the door and watch how I earned my reputation in Fraud." Anya told her with a smile on her face.

Lexa did what she asked of her and soon enough she heard Clarke's heels resonate through the hall. In a matter of seconds she felt her stop. Curious enough to see what would happen, Lexa heard no words being exchanged between Anya and Clarke. Within seconds she saw Clarke open the door and she couldn't stop herself from smirking when she noticed a clearly disappointed Anya following the blonde doctor. Lexa smiled brightly and made her way out, not before sticking her tongue out to Anya who just looked upset.

"Told you." Lexa whispered to her, earning a middle finger on her way to the lab.

"She almost fooled me." Clarke said conversationally. "But there was something missing from her impersonation that made me realize that it wasn't you."

"Indeed Dr. Griffin, no one can make an impersonation of Lexa Woods better than Lexa Woods." Lexa said while smiling. "But seriously, what did you see that made you realize that it was Anya?"

"It's not what I saw, but what I didn't see." Clarke continued to say, suddenly stopping and staring at Lexa deeply.

Lexa also stopped moving, her eyes immediately focusing on Clarke's, trying to analyze them, understand them and be fully absorbed in them. It was a guilty pleasure that she had acquired during the couple of days, and although it was a little invasive, Clarke never seemed to mind and returned her stares with ones of her own.

"That was missing." she heard Clarke say. "It's the way you look at me."

Lexa froze for a while. Sometimes Clarke's honesty was too direct, and although she usually liked it, this time she felt completely unprepared for it.

"Not that I don't like it." Clarke added when Lexa stayed quiet for too long. "But it's a very endearing quality of yours. You make me feel safe." she whispered while looking embarrassed at her sudden admittance of weakness.

Lexa smiled brightly after hearing this, liking to know that her presence made Clarke feel safe. And although she was not ready to admit outloud her feelings, deep inside of her she knew she cared about Clarke more than what it normally should be. Lexa placed one of her arms on top of the petite woman's shoulders, who returned the gesture with a soft smile.

"Now, my dear Dr. Griffin, would you like to tell me the developments on the case of our own Dracula and the Big Bad Wolf?" Lexa asked sarcastically.

"Nothing new. No killings and no new leads." Clarke said almost angrily. "But I think I have an interesting case that you may like to look into until something comes up." she added with a hint of smile.

Lexa returned it. "What kind of case?" she asked excitedly.

Clarke smiled, already knowing that Lexa was going to come with her. "Well, before I tell you what the case is about, let me ask you something: Have you heard about the phenomenon of sleep paralysis?"

Lexa thought about it for a while, trying to understand what this had to do with the possible case. "Isn't it when you have a terrible nightmare and for some reason you are unable to move your body?"

Clarke smiled brightly. "Yes, but more specifically it is when the REM sleep cycle of a person is unnaturally disrupted, which is normally characterized by complete muscle atonia to prevent the sleeper from acting out his or her dreams. When this occurs, the person's body is unable to realize that the mind is out of the REM sleep cycle. But what is really interesting." the blonde hurried herself when she saw that she was losing Lexa's interest. "Is that some small towns believe that the ones responsible for this are called Shadow Ghosts."

As expected, Lexa immediately looked up at the mention of the word 'ghosts'. "Ghosts? For real?" she asked excited.

"Well, they are not ghosts, but creatures that have the shape of what we call specters, which are impossible to touch but are still very real. I was called by a fellow Medical Examiner in New York who asked for my expertise. He is well aware of my involvement with the Special Homicide Unit, reason why he's seeking my help."

"Do you have the..." Lexa started to ask when she felt a big folder land on her hands.

Clarke winked at her. "I already talked to Kane and we have two days. No more, no less."

"So you assumed that I was going to come with you?" Lexa smirked.

"I suspected you might." Clarke said innocently. "Which turned out to be a correct suspicion."

CLCLCLCL

Lexa and Clarke made their way to the headquarters of the New York Police Department quickly. As soon as their plane landed, Clarke got a call from the local medical examiner who immediately put her in touch with the lead detective of the case. Although Lexa had explained to Clarke that locals tended to dislike when others entered their investigation, the local detective had been more than willing to letting them  stay after hearing to which department they belonged to. _Kane was right,_ Lexa thought, _bureaucracy here never sucks._

Clarke quickly went to the morgue, followed closely by Lexa who was a little taken aback with all the gadgets and technology that the department here in New York had. After this trip was over she intended to send a very big letter to the governor and demand better installations for the local police.

"Well bless my eyes, it's the beautiful Dr. Clarke Griffin." Lexa heard a high pitch voice come from the office.

"It has been too long Dr. Wells." Clarke answered back while smiling at the man. "This is Detective Lexa Woods, who also works at the Special Homicide Unit. Lexa, this is my fellow medical examiner and longtime friend Dr. Wells Jaha."

"Jaha as in related to inspector Thelonious Jaha?" Lexa asked.

"My father." the man gave her a friendly smile. " When Clarke told me about you and your reputation I was expecting another kind of woman. I am certainly glad to have been mistaken."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Lexa said carefully while noticing the way Wells was analyzing her, almost as if measuring her.

She noticed that Clarke was very close to her, the blonde's hand almost on her arm and the gesture made her smile warmly. Staring at Wells, she could see that the man was also looking at the blonde woman, his eyes roaming across her body in a look filled with desire, longing, and then harshness when it noticed their closeness.

 _So that's why,_ Lexa realized immediately what was going on, _he sees me as competition._

"Then why are you here in New York when he's in Boston?" she decided to test him further.

"Well, both Clarke and I competed for the position of Chief Medical Examiner. But I always knew that I would never get it. So I also applied to a job here in New York." Wells winked to Clarke. "She was always the smartest one."

"You know we both have the same credentials Wells." Clarke said surely. "You're just as clever and meticulous as I am."

"And I appreciate you saying that." Wells blushed and this made Lexa realize that the man liked Clarke far more than what friends tended to like one another. "But I believe with this last case that I'm as clueless as a child. I need help." he confessed embarrassedly.  

"When I got your message I knew that I had to come as soon as possible." Clarke assured him while putting a hand on top of his shoulder. "You can always count on me Wells. We will always be best friends."

"I know that Clarke." he gave her a sad smile and Lexa felt sorry for him. "And we appreciate any lead you can give us. As you can both see, we are truly lost here."

Clarke nodded and motioned for Lexa to follow her inside the examination room, who had been discreetly listening to everything the two doctors had been discussing. She was relieved to see that Clarke didn't share Wells' romantic feelings.

"When Dr. Griffin told me about the case I knew that I had to come and see it for myself. We read all of the files, but do you think you could explain to us what is happening and when it started?" Lexa went straight to the point.

Wells nodded, knowing that it was time to focus on the case. "It probably started three months ago. There is a small community here that lives near the outskirts of town, locally known was the Purple Eyed. The reason why they are called that way is because they have all decided to wear purple under their eyes as a way to protect themselves."

"Protect themselves against what?" Lexa pressed him.

"Against what they call the Shadow Ghosts. I know it sounds like a scary story told to children before they go to bed but there is simply no other explanation for what is happening. The victims are in some sort of trance and end up dying from extreme fear. When asked about their state before dying, the relatives of the victims told us that they were awake but unable to move, their bodies not reacting at all."

"Sleep Paralysis." Clarke said. "Did toxicology reports show any kind of drug used to induce a similar symptom?"

"No, nothing out of what you would expect to find in a person, which led me to believe that it was all natural. Their bodies had in fact been the responsible ones for their deaths."

"Why not rule it then as a natural cause of death?" Lexa asked him.

"Because in a matter of two months I have had ten people dying of this. Same symptoms, same community, same way of dying." Wells said tersely.

 _Ok, this made things become stranger,_ Lexa thought while looking around the office of Dr. Jaha. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that made it seem as if he took care of his office, it only being a place where he had to be until his job was over. She had noticed that Clarke was the complete opposite, her office fully decorated with masks and couches that she bought with the excuse of making the workplace be more like her, especially since she was going to be spending most of her days there.

"We will try to find out what is happening. Please, if it's not too much problem, do you think I could take a look at the latest victim?" Clarke asked him.

He nodded. "She died this morning after being found screaming by her parents." he exhaled, defeat in his face. "I need your help Clarke. We are getting questioned by the people and by the authorities; and I'm afraid that if we don't get back to them with answers soon then many people will lose their jobs."

Clarke got close to Wells and surely took his hand. "You can trust us. We will try our hardest to find the truth."

Lexa simply nodded in a gesture of reassurance that was thanked by the doctor, who simply said goodbye to them and led them out of the office.

"He was the best friend an awkward woman like me could have had." Clarke said quietly. "When I met him during my rotations he was the only one that didn't laugh at me or talk badly about me behind my back. I own him very much."

"He cares about you." Lexa told the blonde woman.

"I care about him too."

"Like romantically." the brunette clarified.

Clarke looked at her with shock and then laughed loudly. "Wells would never. He's like a brother to me."

"He doesn't know see you as a sister Clarke." Lexa smiled softly. "But we will do our best in trying to find out what is going on."

"Thank you." Clarke said while staring at Lexa.

"For what?" the brunette asked.

"For being here, for being the only friend I have had apart from Wells." Clarke said even more quietly. "Because of my upbringing and quirkiness, I was never very good at making friends. People thought I was weird because I liked to read. They called me Clarkey Larkey." the blonde murmured.

"Well, I wasn't miss popularity either, in fact I was called Alex Latex." Lexa said while looking at Clarke who was trying not to laugh. "It's not funny Clarke."

"No, it's not." the blonde said while still trying to stiff a laugh. "But why latex?"

"I may have found out the wrong way that I'm allergic to it." Lexa explained quietly.

"Can I ask how?" Clarke asked and noticed Clarke blushing.

"I may have tried the police uniform and got a rash that lasted for days?" she confessed. "Everyone at the station laughed at me for a whole month.  Said I looked like a gigantic pimple."

"You looking like a gigantic pimple?" Clarke said while laughing. "Are you kidding?"

She saw that Lexa was still feeling insecure. "You are gorgeous my friend."

Lexa smiled brightly at Clarke who had suddenly turned red. Both just stayed quiet for a while, deep in their own thoughts, which ironically were about each other.

"Maybe we should just go and check the body?" Lexa suggested when none moved.

"I think that's wise, I mean, that's why we're here." Clarke stuttered awkwardly and ran to where the body was.

After getting prepared and sterilized, Clarke and Lexa were equipped for the autopsy, which they both knew was not really going to be an autopsy. Clarke quickly took her glove off, and without having to ask Lexa if she wanted to join, she felt the brunette woman taking her other glove off to grab her hand.

Immediately they were both immersed in darkness that never seemed to dissipate. Minutes went by and nothing was happening, the usual light that told the blonde woman that the memory was going to start being completely absent. Clarke was getting nervous, this experience suddenly new to her. She tried to calm herself down in order to  project her destination on the memory. She wanted to go to the last memory of the young woman's life, but her attempts were being blocked by some kind of black fog. Clarke could make out a shadow on the fog, a man wearing a suit with a hat walking calmly around it. Trying yet again to connect with the memory, Clarke spoke to the man, hoping to get his attention. When she finally did, she realized that this was a terrible mistake because the shadow was suddenly lying on top of her, it wickedly smiling and sucking the air out of her lungs.

 _This is not real, it feels real but it's not,_ Clarke tried to tell herself, but the sensation of fear and suffocation was winning. As soon as she felt herself inhale, the blonde opened her eyes and noticed other people moving desperately around the room, screaming what she assumed was the name of the dead woman. Clarke was trying to calm them down, trying to tell them that she was alright, but her body betrayed her and in a matter of seconds it collapsed. Tremors started shooting all around and they almost left her in a catatonic state. Clarke knew what was happening: The fear had been too much and as the result of the paralysis she was now having a heart attack, which would then lead to her being brain dead. Only seconds before she gave her final exhale, she looked around the room and in the back she saw the man with the suit and hat make his leave,  a trail of fog following his retreat.

It was a matter of seconds before she felt hands touch her face, soft and sweet hands drying the sweat that she suddenly felt on her face. When Lexa opened her eyes she saw the preoccupied and relieved face of Clarke Griffin looking at her, silently asking her if she was alright. After she took the blonde's hand she felt herself enter a dwell of darkness, one that she barely escaped and that was all thanks to Clarke's expertise. Lexa had never thought that dreams could be so powerful, but after experiencing the primal fear that her mind could create, the brunette understood how this could easily kill someone. Without her knowledge Lexa started to shake, and for a while she felt the strong arms of Clarke Griffin hold her tight while humming sweet words of love and care. This soothed her, and after a couple of minutes Lexa felt her heart beats relax and reach normalcy. When she looked up she noticed tears running down the cheeks of Clarke, and without a thought she delicately cleaned them, too upset to do or say something else. Both women just looked at each other, the prospect of losing the other too great to be ignored. After that close call, the fact of being so close to each other was a comfort that they didn't want to deny themselves.

"Lexa, Lexa." she heard Clarke whisper while kissing her head. "Thank God and all the possible deities."

Lexa managed to chuckle. "The only good thing that can probably come from having experienced that is that I get to be taken care of by you."

Clarke smiled sadly at her, kissing her hand now. "Please forgive me Lexa. I never knew that this could happen. I was reckless and that almost cost you your life." she choked out.

Lexa just hushed and hugged her. "It wasn't your fault Clarke. It was the fault of the demon or whatever creature that is or was inside the body of that poor girl."  

Clarke just nodded softly, too preoccupied with the possible consequences of what could have happened if she had failed to pull them out of the memory.

Lexa noticed this change in the blonde's demeanor and made Clarke look at her.

"Clarke, do not push me out. I have noticed that in this new world in which we live in, full of strange and evil things, it is very easy to lose the light. I also noticed that the only way to come back from that darkness is to have a light at the end of the tunnel. My family, my friends, and specially you, are that light. Do not, I beg of you, do not turn off that light." she said while touching Clarke's face and cleaning the tears that were falling from it.

"But what almost happened to you, it happened because of me." Clarke cried. "I could never forgive myself if something bad happened to you and I was responsible for it."

"Nothing happened, and as long as we trust each other nothing will. You know what I saw after the darkness started to take me away?" Lexa said quietly. "I saw your face Clarke. Your face surrounded by warmth and brightness. It made me tell myself 'Come on Woods, there's the end of the tunnel, reach it.'" Lexa finished while staring at Clarke's eyes, those green eyes that were looking hopefully at her. "And I did reach it."

Clarke started to cry deeply, unconsciously searching for Lexa's arms and quickly finding them around her. Lexa  hugged her deeply, murmuring soft and warm words while she moved her hands in tandem around the blonde's back. Clarke closed her eyes at the calming gesture and waited until she was able to speak clearly.

"In such a short amount of time you have managed to mean so much to me Lexa Woods. How is that even possible?"

"Maybe because I'm that irresistible?" Lexa answered back sarcastically.

Clarke smiled and nodded, wanting to feel the warmth of Lexa's unfiltered happiness fill her. Also, she knew she had other feelings inside: She felt angry at the creature responsible for the pain she had felt. She felt irrational fear and powerful anger at having being almost responsible for Lexa's demise. She knew that the brunette felt all of these things too, especially when the detective  took her hands and confidently told her:

"Let's get this creature once and for all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. The difference between the creatures and humans of the unit is that while the creatures come from mythology, which means that they can be thousands of years old like Mephisto, the humans from the Boston Unit are capable of using a bigger percentage of their brain capability than the rest of humans, that's why Kane, Clarke and Anya are able to control their special abilities after having practiced them.
> 
> 2\. The Shadow Ghost are truly a folklore belief that has been around since the 1800 century. Humans believed that night paralysis were caused by demons who jumped and played on their chests which made them unable to move. Clarke acknowledges that night paralysis can be caused naturally, but then she is also aware that they can be induced by the Shadow Ghosts.
> 
> 3\. Clarke is never truly sure of how each "travel" that she has with Lexa will make them react. The reason of this is that Clarke, before meeting Lexa, had never tried to share her visions, which as you will see in this chapter, scares her.
> 
> 4\. Something that I have been building since they shared their first memory is that with each new experience they connect more with each other, both emotionally and physically, which is why you will see that I make them share deeper things than what you would expect normal friends experience (At this point in the story it has been a little more than a week since Lexa and Clarke first met).


	5. Replicare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa face the Shadow Ghost and we learn more about Lexa's role in the Special Homicide Unit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm assuming that many people are liking the story because of all the kudos and bookmarks it has been getting. I appreciate the support and I hope you keep enjoying it.

After that terrible experience in the M.E office of the New York PD, Clarke had expected Lexa to stay at the hotel that she had booked for both of them. And she wouldn't have blamed her, in fact she had encouraged Lexa to stay. Although she had admitted to Lexa that what had happened had scared her, the reality was that Clarke felt completely terrified. When she opened her eyes and saw Lexa's limp body on the floor she had screamed, immediately laying down so she could grab the brunette's face until her spasms ended. For some strange reason, Lexa had remained in the memory, even after Clarke got out of it, which had shocked the blonde doctor.

Before Lexa, Clarke had never shared her gift with anyone else; and different research showed that the few people that had the same gift as her chose to not share it with others. The main reason this occurred was because of how personal the experience tended to be. At first had assumed that she would only feel the emotions of the deceased, as it always happened. But now when Lexa grabbed her hand she could feel it: The warmth that came before they went inside the darkness, the connection afterwards and flowing of emotions between each other. It was almost as if by living the memory together the bond between them got stronger.

That fear she had felt when she saw Lexa on the floor was pure irrational panic that she usually kept hidden deep inside of her. Clarke had at first assumed that the reason she had felt so vulnerable was because she had just come out of a memory. But now that she thought better about it, she knew that it was because it was Lexa the one in danger. Without Clarke realizing it, Lexa had become a trigger that made her emotions show, something that she  found out she liked because Lexa was also opening herself up. But it also worried her since they were in danger.  After Mephisto's threat, Clarke had been agitated and careful when contacting her family or little group of friends that she had. She didn't want to give the creature tools that he could use to control and hurt her. Nevertheless, it was likely that all of these measures would turn out to be failed attempts because the person that was starting to mean the most to her was the one that always followed her.

"A penny for your thoughts?" she heard Lexa ask her while smiling at her.

Clarke returned the smile. "I would expect my thoughts to have more value."

Lexa laughed. "It's just a saying Clarke, and your thoughts are definitely worth more than that."

"I was thinking about what happened earlier." the blonde whispered while looking for a reaction.

Lexa closed her eyes. "I have been thinking about that too. And I still know that it wasn't your fault."

"Do you remember what Mephisto told me when he went inside that man's memories?"

"I do Clarke." Lexa said sweetly.

"Ever since that day I have been replaying that threat. It felt so real, so personal and macabre because he violated that man's last moments of life in order to give me a message."

"He was taunting us Clarke, trying to say that he could take us and scare us by threatening what we love the most." Lexa said while grabbing her hand. "In our line of work these threats will come almost all the time."

"I know that Clarke, and I have had many since I started working as an MD, but for some reason this one felt different than the others. It was more meticulous, which makes me be scared of the possibility of it becoming a reality." Clarke whispered while looking at Lexa. "Before meeting you I had never shared my abilities with someone else. There is small research about doing this and I can't promise you that I know what could happen."

Lexa nodded, knowing immediately that Clarke was trying to warn her. "I understand that, but I am your friend and I will not let you face this alone. Although, it would be really nice if there could be a way for us to communicate inside the memory?"

Clarke looked up in surprise. "Well, since I always see it through the eyes of the deceased I don't even know if that is possible."

"Yes, but think about it Clarke. Before you go in, in a manner of speaking, what do you tell yourself?"

"I concentrate on the person, on who they were and what I want to see."

"Yes, so for example, if I were to come in with you, wouldn't it be right to assume that I could also choose a person from the memory of the deceased?"

"A projection from the memory that could be capable of talking to me?" Clarke asked surprised.

"Exactly! You see, I wouldn't intervene in the essence of the memory because I would not be affecting it, but we could talk with each other during it. I have noticed that even against our wills we seem to follow the timeline of the memory."

Clarke thought about this and it actually made sense, hypothetically speaking. If Clarke was capable of choosing what she wanted to see, it would also make sense for someone else to decide to project themselves on one of the people that were with the deceased.

"I don't know Lexa. It sounds plausible and it even makes sense. But after what almost happened to you I couldn't go through with this plan and feel tranquil."

Clarke saw that Lexa started to move around the room, desperate to refute but thinking of a smart way to do so. It was clear that Lexa knew that with screams she was not going to get anywhere.

"Clarke, I will not let you go by yourself to that town. I will not let you go inside that person's memories without me following you. That's what partners do, we have each other's backs."

Clarke just looked at Lexa and smiled. "I have always been used to being on my own, to having my own back."

Lexa smiled back. "Well, you'll have to adapt Dr. Griffin, because whenever you want to or not, you now have a friend that worries about you."

Clarke smiled and gave Lexa a hug, thankful for having her as a friend. "But, I still don't feel confident about you coming the memory with me."

"Well, too bad, because I'm going. Non negotiable." she said with an air of finality that didn't allow Clarke a chance to refute. " But now that I think about it, how are we going to just access a memory if they are not dead yet."

"Well..." Clarke started to say. "In these communities it is quite normal to have people on the verge of death staying at their families' houses. They refuse to go to hospitals and instead choose to die in their home with their loved ones. I called ahead, expecting already to go to the town for further research, and talked to the head of the community about what can I do and how we can help them stop this." Clarke smiled shyly. "There is a man that is going to die soon, probably tonight, and they allowed us to be there in the room with the family."

Lexa just looked at Clarke, expecting her to wink and tell her that it was all a joke, but when she saw not one thing from the blonde's serious expression change, Lexa took a deep breath.

"I guess it's time to go to a funeral." she said sarcastically.

CLCLCLCL

 _Macabre is a small word to describe this place,_ Lexa thought to herself while moving around the small house. The ride to the small town had been two hours of them sharing their life stories and fun facts with each other, Lexa specifically focusing on learning everything that she could about Clarke.

_(Flashback)_

"I have told you already about my overbearing family and my helicopter dad." Lexa said while laughing. "Seriously, I think he invented the term."

Clarke laughed too. "Yes, you have."

"Which I think gives me a wild card to now ask you questions about your family."

Clarke looked up at Lexa, a little nervous of what the brunette would think of her once she found out who she really was. "I guess it does."

Lexa nodded, excited to know more about Clarke and how she became the wonderful person she now is. "Before I ask you something you need to first give me something like a little introduction to your life. Who is Clarke Griffin?"

Clarke thought about her answer for a while. "I was born in Boston, never knowing my biological family because I was adopted. My parents are very important members of the Boston socialite, and because of that I have been very fortunate regarding my upbringing and education."

"Who are your parents?"

"My father is a scholar at BCU that teaches engineering while my mother is Abby Griffin."

Lexa looked up surprised. "Of the Griffin Foundation?"

Clarke smiled softly. "Yes, my parents are members of the Board of Directors."

"Shit, that's very nice Clarke."

"I suppose it is." Clarke said quietly. "I had a very lonely childhood because my parents were so involved in their own lives that it made them be absent during most of my life. That, and also the fact that I was a weird child, which scared possible friends and left me all by myself. I was really lost." she finished while looking down, sadness overtaking her. "Still, I managed to finish high school in a boarding school in France, which then led me to BCU to earn my degree in Pre-Med. I graduated with honors and then I went to Harvard Medicine for my MD, a residency in California and I finally came back home to Boston for the job of Chief Medical Examiner." Clarke finished, emptiness in her voice, almost as if she was unhappy with her life and what she had done with it.

Lexa realized this and grabbed the blonde's hand while keeping the other one on the steering wheel. "Whatever happened to you Clarke, whatever made you become the way you are today, it is nothing to be ashamed off." she gave Clarke a bright smile. "To me, and I'm sure that to many people as well, you are a wonderful, kind, smart and beautiful woman. Instead of choosing to have an easy life. you felt the need to help others. That, in my book and in the book of many others, is such a brave and unselfish thing to do. You are incredible."

Clarke felt her eyes burning, tears threatening to make an appearance. She managed to control them and smiled warmly at Lexa, who was also smiling.

"My favorite time was college in BCU" Clarke confessed.

Lexa smiled back. "I remember that when I was a teenager I heard my friends talking about going to BCU and having the time of their lives." the brunette said wistfully. "And that made me want to go so bad to that I even applied to the university."

"Well, BCU is a very tough university to get accepted to."  Clarke said while looking at Lexa who had glanced away.

"I did get in." Lexa said while smiling sadly.

"Then why didn't you go?"

"I couldn't do that to my pop." Lexa whispered. "Tuition for BCU was expensive and the salary of a plumber could never be enough to cover it. I never told my parents that I applied because it was too sad to let them know that I got in but that I couldn't go."

Clare thought for a while what to say next, what Lexa would have wanted to hear in order to make things be better. She smiled.

"Well, it's a good thing that you didn't go to BCU." Clarke said, getting a shocked look from Lexa. "Because you would have known me during that time and I was a really terrible geek."

Lexa laughed at this. "Come on, it couldn't have been that bad."

"I had braces, freckles, big black frame glasses and I wore tails and tall skirts with square patterns and a cotton sweater." Clarke said embarrassed.

"The nerve." Lexa exclaimed while laughing. "I also wasn't the greatest university student. Many professors hated my Italian personality."

"Italian personality?" Clarke asked.

"Yes, which is basically me being very loud and telling the professor that what they said was bullshit if I believed it was."

Clarke laughed. "The nerve."

_(End of Flashback)_

Clarke pressed her hand on top of Lexa's shoulder when she saw the brunette's gaze freeze on a random object. She knew Lexa was thinking about something else, which was confirmed when her eyes refocused and started to scan the room. Clarke herself also started to look around, not liking at all what she was seeing. The house had been very difficult to find, it almost being in the middle of nowhere. After going around in circles they found it, immediately being welcomed by a young man who could barely see anything because of all the eye make-up he had on. Clarke took Lexa's hand and led her further away from the bed, not wanting the brunette to be anywhere near the man who was barely breathing.

 _It isn't hard to feel it,_ Clarke thought while sitting on one of the empty chairs, _this man will not make it through the night._ It seemed that Lexa reached the same conclusion because she heard the brunette sit down right next to her while taking out a notepad. They had discussed about accessing the memories of the victim with a better of his life and the people around him, hoping this was the key in controlling the memories. In order to do that they had to analyze their surroundings, see the family dynamics and which bonds were the strongest. Soon enough they both realized that the oldest daughter was the one that had the most interactions with the man; she took care of his every need. Lexa got up and quickly went to ask her questions about herself, trying to get to know and understand her as much as possible so that she could think like she did and see things from her eyes. Clarke was happy about Lexa's stubbornness because she was scared of going alone, and the fact that Lexa was pushing to be with her made her feel instantly at peace.

Right before midnight Lexa noticed that the man started seizing without control. Instantly getting up, she saw Clarke get close to him so she could feel his pulse and then chest. When the man abruptly opened his eyes Lexa saw them clouded and moving rapidly.

"He is in the middle of a sleep paralysis attack." Clarke told her while moving around the bed, taking chairs and things out of the way.

"Clarke, I don't think this is the best time to start cleaning." Lexa told her sarcastically.

Clarke just ignored her and kept on moving things away from the small place. "Help me Lexa."

Lexa did so immediately and swiftly started to get a table out of the way when she heard a terrible scream come from the bed. There, on top of the man's chest, a shadow of what seemed to be a person was smiling at them while pointing to the near deceased. Lexa froze, her eyes not believing what they were seeing. Clarke instead just went to stand next to the old man, clearly ignoring the shadow that had shifted its focus to her. The brunette immediately followed.

"Clarke, I believe there is a shadow staring at us?" Lexa tried to be funny but failed miserably.

"Yes there is." Clarke said while trying to take the pulse of the man. "He is gone." she spat angrily while looking at the shadow who seemed to be telling them that it wasn't his fault.

Lexa just kept on staring and almost screamed when she saw that the shadow man started pointing to Clarke's hands and then to the temple of the dead man. It was aware of Clarke's ability and it was asking her to use it. Clarke started to do so.

"Clarke, I don't like this." Lexa hissed. "It wants us to do it."

"But Lexa, this may be our only chance to find out what is going on and how to solve this." Clarke begged her. "Please Lex."

Lexa just looked angrily at the shadow, who was watching their discussion with interest and amusement. She faced it:

"Listen weird creature, we are going to go inside and try to find out how to stop you. If you do anything that may harm Clarke then I promise you that that's going to be the last thing you will ever do. And I keep my promises." Lexa hissed at the shadow. Immediately after that she took Clarke's hand, who was on her way to touching the dead man's temple.

"Don't forget Lexa, as soon as you feel that you're consciously inside the memory  you must talk to me. I may not be able to move but I will answer you back. This time you will be the one walking because the daughter was moving around the room."

Lexa nodded, already concentrating and preparing herself for the darkness.

"And one more thing." she felt Clarke squeeze her hand. "Everything that you going to feel is not real: The pain, the sadness, it's not. Just don't forget that."

Lexa nodded again, remembering what Clarke had explained to her earlier.

_(Flashback)_

"When one is looking at things from the perspective of others, you may have noticed that you start having emotions that do not match with your line of thought. The reason this happens is because the body in which your consciousness is is it's not yours, and because it's not yours you are unable to control it and the reactions that it has. The happiness, the feelings of true love and sadness that we experience in there are not our own. Our mind may think that they are and may make us react as if they were, but they are not. Do not let your emotions control you."

"Easy to say, specially to a hot-tempered Italian." she had murmured.

_(End of Flashback)_

As soon as she felt the darkness overtake her, Lexa started to think about Niylah and where she had been sitting when they were in the room. She remembered it clearly; in a chair next to Clarke's. She thought about the calmness that the younger woman had tried to show. It was obvious that she was trying her best to bring stability to her family, who was suffering and needed her temperance. This line of thought seemed to work because when Lexa opened her eyes she noticed that she was sitting down.

Frantically looking to her left she noticed a cousin of Niylah with his eyes closed and what seemed like praying. On her right was Clarke, calmly looking at her surroundings and then exhaling in content. Although she was in the memory of another person, the sensation that she felt inside her heart when she saw Clarke made her realize how deeply she cared. Was it even possible to feel this way so soon?

Lexa was distracted the moment she noticed the old man exhale, knowing right away that Clarke had entered his body. Because Niylah's concern for her father calmed down, she noticed that the woman started to look at Clarke. The brunette started to notice the way Clarke's legs were elongated and firm, how her skirt fit her perfectly and the way her hair was brushed. She felt her body's temperature rise. Closing her eyes, Lexa remembered what the blonde doctor had told her earlier and she immediately felt angry. Did this mean that Niylah had also found Clarke beautiful? _Focus Lexa, do not forget why you are here,_ she told herself while looking at the bed.

"Clarke?" she asked while waiting for any reaction.

"Lexa? Lexa?!" she heard Clarke almost scream, fear on her voice.

Deeply concentrating, she remembered Niylah standing up and approaching her father, which is what her body did.

"I'm here darling, everything's alright." she reassured the blonde woman.

Clarke, or the old man, looked at her with tears in his eyes and nodded. "Have you seen him yet?"

Lexa was going to answer 'no' when she saw the shadow appear in the middle of the room, looking amusedly at them.

"Well, whatdaya know?!" the man said while smiling brightly. "It's not every day that I have the honor of getting visitors."

Lexa just scoffed. "Yeah, I bet you are having the time of your life." the brunette said while going forward and approaching it. _Weird,_ she thought while doing it.

The man seemed surprised as well. "How are you doing that?" he choked out.

Lexa stared at Clarke and saw her perplexed reflection, which then became one of pain. She yelped.

"You better hurry Lexa, because your girlfriend may not have much time until the old man dies." the shadow said while laughing. "And from what I can remember it was a very painful death for him."

Again Lexa heard Clarke scream and anger filled up her lungs. She ran without a care and felt herself crash with the shadow man who seemed just as surprised and in shock as she was.

"This is not possible, I am a specter." he screamed while Lexa just grabbed him by the neck and pushed him up.

"You were a specter." Lexa hissed angrily while pressing her hands around his throat and squeezing.

"I'm not the only one." he managed to say. "There are many more that have heard the call of Mephisto and that are coming."

"Oh don't worry. We will find him soon enough too. Sadly, you will not be there to see it happen. " Lexa said while squeezing harder and then feeling the specter become dust under her fingers.

Cleaning her hands from the dust that had settled on top of them,  she went running towards Clarke, who was looking at the whole scene through clenched teeth. She kissed the blonde's hand and whispered in her ear. "It's ok darling, it's over, you can let go. Take us back home."

CLCLCLCL

_(Dream Sequence)_

As soon as she opened her eyes she felt extreme pain. She had not expected it to be so terrible, and after reminding herself that this pain was not real she remembered that Lexa had also entered the memory with her. After testing her self-strength, Clarke called for the brunette woman, the second time louder than the first one because of the pain that passed through her chest. _Warning symptoms of a heart attack,_ she realized.

"I'm here darling, everything is alright." she heard Lexa tell her, the pain too much to allow her to push her face up.

"Have you seen him yet?" she managed to ask while tears were filling her eyes. It was too painful to talk and she even felt the light fade away. She probably had a couple of minutes before the memory ended. She heard Lexa from afar talking, barely understanding what the brunette was saying.

"Yeah, I bet you are having the time of your life." Clarke chuckled despite the pain, realizing that had to be one of Lexa's sarcastic comments. Desperate to see the brunette she moved up, a blaze of pain cutting through her body. Nevertheless, what was more shocking was watching Lexa moving towards the specter, who was just as surprised as she was of such a thing happening.

"How are you doing that?" she heard it say. Wanting to see more, Clarke moved further up, which made her scream. Lexa's gaze fell towards her, concern and fear on her face.

"You better hurry Lexa, your girlfriend may not have much time until the old man dies. And from what I remember it was very a very painful death for him." she heard the shadow tell Clarke, mocking the detective and taunting her to do something. Clarke wanted to calm her down, to let her know that she was ok, but the pain had become unbearable. As soon as the scream came out of her mouth she saw Lexa angrily charge the specter and collide with him, dragging both of them to the floor.

Clarke  was speechless, that shouldn't be possible at all.

"You were a specter." Clarke heard Lexa say before she fell back to the bed and started to have seizures.

The darkness was falling upon her, the pain too big and devouring. It was too hard to stay awake, but she had to make sure that Clarke was alright and that nothing wrong had happened to her. Desperately looking around, she saw Lexa squeezing the neck of the specter and making him turn to dust. She would have thought more about the repercussions of what she saw but she knew that soon it was all going to be over.

Suddenly, she saw a ray of light appear between the darkness, and focusing deeply on it she managed to see Lexa look at her with love and concern. The feeling was too strong, the need to see the brunette too powerful that it made her become self-aware enough to understand that the specter was gone.

"It's ok darling, it's over, you can let go. Take us back home." she felt Lexa kiss her while grabbing her hand. This made her smile and close her own eyes; for the first time seeing pure light instead of darkness.

_(End of Dream)_

Clarke woke up, pain in every part of her body as if she had gone through the heart attack herself. Not wanting to open her eyes, she started to move her hands, wanting to at least know where she was. What she didn't expect was the sudden warmth that she felt.  Too curious to simply ignore it, Clarke opened her eyes and found herself in the bed of the hotel room that she had booked for Lexa and her.

 _Lexa_ , she remembered and instantly got up to only be stopped by a pair of strong hands who were telling her to lay still. Moving to face the person that was impeding her to move,  she saw the reason of all her sudden emotions, relief on her face.

"Lex." Clarke whispered relieved.

"Clarke, my swee..." Lexa stopped herself before she said something that made Clarke feel uncomfortable. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just got hit by a car." Clarke whispered, noticing that Lexa had stopped herself from saying something to Clarke that the blonde was dying to hear. She grabbed the brunette's hand. "I'm just so glad to see you are ok Lex."

This made Lexa's heart melt, and in a weird gesture she kissed Clarke's cheek, lingering a little too long.

Clarke closed her eyes and hummed in deep contentment at the feeling of soft lips on her face. She grabbed Lexa's hand and squeezed it. _Squeezed,_ Clarke thought, remembering what had happened.

"The specter?" Clarke whispered.

"Gone." Lexa answered, angriness on her voice. "I guess that solves your fellow M.E's case."

Clarke nodded. "Lexa, what you did there..." she started to say to only be interrupted by Lexa.

"I was just so angry Clarke. He was enjoying your pain and that made me react. I don't know why, but I feel very protective of you." Lexa confessed this last part. "I don't know how I did it, but it suddenly became very easy to move. I know you said it was impossible to do that and that scares me."

Clarke was baffled. "I didn't even think that it was possible to grab a specter and you did it Lexa. For some strange reason you were able to do so and without even knowing you could do it. It is rather fascinating." she continued while sitting and grabbing Lexa's arm, moving it around.

Lexa laughed. "Are you examining me, Dr. Griffin?"

"Perhaps." she answered back flirtingly. She suddenly focused on Lexa's neck and softly put her fingers there. "You have a wonderful sternocleidomastoid muscle."

Lexa gulped, trying really hard to not close her eyes. "Thank you, I guess?"

Clarke looked up and saw Lexa holding her face as far away from her fingers as possible. Assuming that she was making the brunette feel uncomfortable she started to move away. "I'm sorry Lexa, I didn't realize that I was making you uncomfortable."

Lexa laughed, dragging Clarke back to her arms. "Trust me Clarke, that was not what you were doing at all."

Clarke took a deep breath, perhaps her earlier death experience was making her become bolder than what she usually was. Nevertheless, she looked at Clarke, measuring her, and when she saw expectation in the brunette's eyes she quickly kissed her neck. When Lexa simply stayed still she took that as an encouragement and kept trailing kisses on the detective's neck.

"I can't explain it." Clarke said while continuing to kiss Lexa. "And I don't know if it is only me, but I have started experiencing these feelings." she whispered while switching to Lexa's ear and biting it softly.

Lexa whimpered, trying really hard to control herself, desperate to hear what Clarke had to say and to just lose herself under the soft kisses.

"They are so intense, and so fulfilling Lexa. They scare me." Clarke stopped kissing Lexa and stared longingly  at her. "I have never felt like this before; so protective of someone. I guess what I'm trying to say, and although it may sound ridiculous, I think I am falling for you." she whispered while looking down.

That was all it took for Lexa's determination to crumble. Desperately,  she allowed the feeling she had kept under control  take the reins. She lifted Clarke's face carefully, and after looking at her eyes, she nodded and kissed her lips. The action surprised Clarke, but after a few seconds she found herself responding to the kiss. Both women were desperate to make the other realize how much they had wanted this to happen, how much they felt and how much they had been waiting for this moment.

Lexa deepened the kiss, making Clarke whimper and softly put her arms around Lexa's, who was happily laying right next to Clarke. Smirking, Clarke allowed her body to fall towards the bed, dragging  Lexa along with her. Without hesitation, Lexa took the blonde's face and kissed her again, only separating after being out of breath. Nevertheless, she quickly moved her head lower and started to pepper hot kisses on Clarke's skin and at the beginning of her chest.

"Clarke..." Lexa whispered while looking up and watching Clarke with passion and longing. "My sweet Clarke." she continued saying. "What I feel for you is too hard to explain. It is so deep and so full emotions. I don't understand how it happened, and this may sound cliché, but I feel connected to you and not just in a cheesy way."

"Sometimes, it's almost as if I can know what you are thinking, as if I can feel your fears, your devotion and passion for the things you do. Your compassion." Lexa continued while kissing Clarke chastely on the lips. "Your love of life."

Clarke saw Lexa and instantly understood what the brunette meant because she felt the same way. She had felt it since the first time they touched, and now that she had Lexa on top of her she had started to feel it again. She kissed Lexa passionately, wanting the detective to understand how deep her feelings for her were.

Clarke brought her hand to caress Lexa's cheek, on her way there softly touching her temple. Both of them felt it come; a feeling of warmth that led them to be facing each other in a white room.

"Clarke?" Lexa asked while going towards her. "Where are we?"

Clarke was too speechless to respond, realizing right away what had happened. She stood next to Lexa and felt the familiar pull push her in, softly stopping at a place that she would always recognize.

"We are in Boston." Clarke said somberly. She remembered this very well.

Soon enough they both saw Clarke, or a reflection of Clarke, make her way towards the back of a restaurant. Waiting for her was Sergeant Kane, who simply nodded his regards.

"What happened?" Lexa saw reflection Clarke ask Kane. She could see a body behind the man.

"We didn't know he was being followed." Kane whispered while moving away, the body of a young man facing them. Lexa saw both Clarke's flinch.

"You told me he would be protected Kane, you promised me." Clarke screamed at him.

"You know what this creature does Clarke, how it is capable of luring their prey and making them do things that they don't want to." Kane said sadly. "I am truly sorry."

Reflective Clarke pushed his hand away from her shoulder. Kneeling in front of the man, Lexa noticed that Clarke didn't wait until the body reached the autopsy room, instead touching the dead man's temple.

Immediately feeling the pull. Lexa and Clarke felt it too, and soon enough they saw the darkness being transformed to a cheap bar filled with music and people. The three of them made their way towards the bar where a young man was nodding at them and asking them to seat.

Lexa froze; it was the same creature that she had met in the alley, the one that made her join the Special Homicide Unit. The memory went forward, pictures blurry because of the many bears the man had. Suddenly they were outside, the cold wind blowing their faces. They wanted to move and Lexa felt reflective Clarke's attempts at escaping but the woman found herself unable to do so. Still, Lexa moved around and saw how the creature started to laugh and push his fist towards the man. She could see how the man was lost in space, too drunk to react properly or do the commands the creature was asking him to. Nevertheless, there was a part of her that realized that the man didn't want to be here, that he was fighting for control of his body. Surprised, Lexa looked at the young man's hands and saw that he had a knife in them. That was when everything became dark.

Opening her eyes, both women realized that they were laying on the bed. Lexa felt Clarke get off the bed and out of the room, which made the brunette bolt and immediately go after her. She found Clarke on the rooftop, breathing rapidly while holding her tears. Lexa slowly made her way towards her, and when she was close she encircled the blonde in a deep hug.

Clarke turned around and softly positioned her head on Lexa's shoulder, tears streaming down her eyes without control. It had been too terrible to see it that first time, to have felt that weakness and desperation of not being capable of helping a friend. But now that she saw it through Lexa's perspective it had been even worse. The only difference was that instead of going home to cry herself to sleep, this time she had Lexa hugging her and whispering  words of love and concern.

Clarke took a deep breath and grabbed Lexa's hands, kissing each finger delicately.

"Thank you Lex."

Lexa laughed hysterically. "For what Clarke? For making you remember something awful? Or for invading your privacy and uncovering your deepest secrets without your consent?"

Clarke made Lexa look at her. "For reminding me that doing this alone is terrible and for making me be thankful."

"Thankful? He killed your friend!"

"That he did." Clarke said sadly. "But he also brought you to my life."

Lexa instantly kissed Clarke who sweetly kissed her back.

"And besides, I think that based on all the things that we have been through, my privacy has already been invaded many of times." Clarke said while smiling.

"Who was he?" Lexa asked her softly, trying to be understanding but nevertheless a sting of jealousy was still obvious on her question.

"He was a friend that I met during my time at BCU. His name was Finn Collins and he was a truly good man. We had just received information of a creature that was manipulating people into giving them all of their wealth and then killing them. With the help of a P.I we learned that his next target was Finn. Kane, desperate to catch the creature, approached Finn, told him that I was working on the case and asked him for his cooperation. When Finn heard that I was part of the investigation he immediately decided to help." Clarke said angrily. "After Finn was killed I was truly mad at Kane. I  even left the unit for a while. Ironically, I only came back when I heard that the creature responsible for Finn's death had been captured."

Lexa nodded. "I would have been mad at him too and I hope he apologized."

Clarke smiled guiltily. "I may have taken advantage of the situation and asked him for a couple of favors."

Lexa smiled. "The nerve."

"Only one truly important." Clarke said quietly. "That he introduced me to the person that got the creature."

Lexa smiled again. "Because of that I think that I may be able to not be so harsh on Kane."

"That reminds me of something Anya said to you." Clarke suddenly realized. "She said that Kane had a sixth sense for recruiting people that had special abilities." Clarke explained.

"How do you know about that conversation?" Lexa asked embarrassedly.

"I know everything Alexandra Woods." Clarke smirked. "But I now know that what she said was true because you have an ability."

"Me, an ability? Don't be ridiculous Clarke."

"It makes total sense. The way you were able to tell yourself to move your body and tackle the creature of the alley. Or how after touching my temple you were capable of going inside my memories but control them far better than me." Clarke said excitedly. "It fits with one of the strangest and most fascinating types of abilities known to us. In fact, I have only read about it and there is not much information out there."

Lexa moved Clarke's shoulders. "Then just tell me woman, you are killing me."

Clarke smiled. "Your special ability, my darling, is replication."


	6. Myelin Sheath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa deepen their bond ;)  
> Also, the killer makes an appearance and we learn more about how people and creatures get their abilities.

"Ouch." Lexa said again while watching the syringe go inside her arm.

After they got back from New York, Clarke got deeply involved in trying to find out more about Lexa's newly discovered ability. Although she didn't want to admit it to the brunette, she was a little scared of what this ability could do and how it could affect Lexa, who seemed oblivious to the danger. Not that she expected Lexa to be scared, but instead of being a little bit preoccupied it was quite the opposite.  

"You know, you could have told me that you were planning on taking all my blood." Lexa told her sarcastically.

Clarke just hummed. "The special tests that I'm ordering require a high quantity of blood Lexa, so stop being a baby and cooperate." she mocked her.

Lexa just looked straight. "Was it like this for you?"

Clarke looked curiously at the brunette.

"I mean, after finding out that you were special." Lexa explained nervously. "Was it just like 'Oh, look at that I can see people's memories, hurray!'"

Clarke smiled sweetly at Lexa and gave her a small peck. "Yes and no. Of course I was excited about finding out that I had special abilities that others did not. But mostly I was curious about how they worked. I didn't know anyone else that also had them and for a while I thought that I was the only one that did."

"But I still don't understand how mine works." Lexa said embarrassed. "I barely know about this world and now I seem to be a part of it. I'm scared."

Clarke took her hand. "Well, Detective Smartypants, I think you have an advantage that most of us did not have. You have me." she said while smiling at Lexa, who immediately smiled back.

"You are a very humble genius." Lexa said sarcastically. "I bet it's very difficult to be you."

"Oh, you have no idea." Clarke said without noticing the hint of sarcasm in Lexa's comment. "But if you want I can try to explain to you my theory of how your ability works."

Lexa nodded and stood up straight, ready for what she expected to be a very long lecture.

"Well, in order for you to understand it better, you would need to know the exact etymology of the word replication. It comes from the Latin 'replicare', and it means 'the action of copying or reproducing something', which is exactly what you do when you touch someone." Clarke said. "But I have also noticed that sometimes you don't even have to touch the person with the ability; just a stare or experiencing the ability being performed on you is enough for your mind  to recreate it and sometimes even improve the ability."

Lexa just nodded. "But why didn't I feel it sooner?"

"Maybe because you never had an encounter with a creature before." Clarke said absently. "Some people can live their whole life unaware of the existence of them because they never crossed paths."

"So that day when I chased down that terrible creature..."

"Your brain's natural instinct of survival developed your ability and made it become functional." Clarke explained. "Some abilities, such as mine, do not require of the intervention of a creature to function because they are created based on our experiences. Let's use me as an example." Clarke continued while pointing at herself.

Lexa smiled. "A great example."

Clarke smiled back. "Physically I'm not a threat, and because of that I wouldn't be considered to be a predator in our ecosystem. But, because I do need traits to secure my survival, instead of being physically strong I went the complete opposite way, having intelligence instead of strong musculature. In my case, my left side of the brain is more dominant because it's the one that controls my actions the most. Left-side brain persons tend to be more logical and analytical, very good with numbers and reasoning." Clarke said while pointing at herself. "But our side of the brain is not the sole part that determines why we develop different abilities. What is generally true with all humans is that our amygdala decides which memories it wants to restore and discard, which things to remember and forget or what things we want to obtain. After our amygdala chooses which memories to restore, our hypothalamus, based on the things that we learn thanks to our amygdala, selects what things to focus on. And this then gets transmitted to the rest of our organism thanks to our brain cells, which carry what we call the Myelin Sheath in our brain cells. Unlike normal humans, our brain cells are capable of producing the quadruple quantity, which makes our brain expand in size; and this expansion in return, along with the influence of our emotions and fears, ends up creating the Chicondria. The Chicondria is basically the organelle responsible for the creation of abilities. Different Chicondria create different abilities, and in my case, because I was more logical and scientific, my Chicondria created an ability that took advantage of my knowledge, one that cannot be used for attack or defense, but for scientific inquiry."

Lexa just looked at Clarke, who was waiting for an answer. "Well, it seems that you have really thought about this." the brunette said while smiling.

"I did." Clarke said while sitting down again. "You clearly don't understand how unique your ability is Lexa. To be able to copy others abilities is such a dangerous thing. It's like taking away a piece of a person's identity and using it against them."

"Is that what you thought when I made you see that memory?" Lexa whispered quietly.

Clarke made Lexa look at her. "Of course not darling. When you touched me I felt the love that you feel for me, the care and concern that you have always shown me since we met. Still, because our brain's most emotional parts are responsible for the creation of our abilities, they tend to always influence the way we experience and use them. With you, and every time you have come with me inside a memory, it's true that I have felt the usual darkness that I usually experience, but at the same time there was warmth and peace. I'm sure that these feelings come from you and what we feel for each other." Clarke said while smiling warmly at Lexa.

Lexa smiled back, but then a thought came back to her, something that had been bothering her. "Do you remember that time we saw Mephisto?"

Clarke nodded.

"He manipulated the memory too, didn't he? That's why he was able to directly speak and address us." Lexa realized.

Clarke nodded again. "As soon as I saw what you did with the specter I suspected the same thing. He also has the ability of replication."

Lexa fidgeted. "So that's why we felt the memory be so awful and full of hate." the brunette said while grabbing Clarke's hands, shaking at the memory. "It was because he manipulated it."

Clarke nodded yet again. "It's like the two sides of the same coin. While you bring warmth after taking a person's abilities, he brings darkness and hate."

"Do you think he knows?" Lexa asked quietly. "Because if he doesn't then I want to keep it that way. Who knows, maybe keeping it a secret will give us the upper hand, which is why you will not let anyone else, apart from  the two of us, to see the results of these exams."

"And Kane and Anya?" Clarke asked disapprovingly. She hated to keep secrets. "They are also a part of the team."

"And we will tell them Clarke... As soon as we confirm that the ability that I do have is replication." Lexa said. "Or are you willing to assure us all that without a doubt I posses this ability?"

Clarke looked at Lexa and saw her smiling.

 _She already knows how to drive me crazy,_ she thought, but instead of playing along she simply nodded and took the blood samples with her.

"Because I can't compromise the results of the experiment, I will refrain myself from telling them to anyone, including you." Clarke said while smiling back.

Lexa's smile fell, realizing that she had been defeated at her own game. She got up and quickly went to hug Clarke, who also smiled and smirked at her. Instead of letting herself be grabbed, she moved around the room and far away from Lexa, who smiled wickedly and started to chase her.  Squealing and trying her best to run away, Clarke went behind her chair while Lexa followed her closely. It didn't take long for the brunette to catch her, and without any struggle she brought her close.

"We are in the middle of my office Lexa!" Clarke hissed while looking around. "What if someone decides to come in?"

"Well, are you expecting someone Dr. Griffin?" Lexa flirted while pushing her hips,  

Clarke closed her mouth, feeling suddenly blank.

"You know, the fact that someone may come in makes all of this more exciting. Don't you agree?" the brunette got even closer than before.

Clarke squealed. "Yes."

Lexa laughed. She placed her hand on top of Clarke's cheek and felt the blonde nuzzle it. "Should I stop then?"

"No." Clarke whispered while letting all her inhibitions go. She moved her head up and kissed Lexa's neck.

"God, I don't think I will ever get tired of this." both women said at the same time, which made them look at each other and laugh.

"Maybe we should refrain ourselves from saying the exact same thing at the exact same time in front of others." Lexa said while bringing both of them to the comfort of Clarke's couch because the feeling of the blonde woman close to her was making her legs become jelly.

As soon as she sat down she yelped. "This is the most uncomfortable couch that I ever sat on." Lexa complained.

Clarke laughed. "This is an Eames Sofa Lexa."

"So what? It is really uncomfortable and couches are supposed to be the complete opposite." Lexa said while standing up. "There is no way we are gonna start making out on that couch. My back won't take it."

Clarke smiled and laid down on the couch on purpose, making Lexa open her eyes while staring longingly at her. "Really? Well that's very... inconvenient." the blonde whispered the last part while taking her shoes off. "You see, I was in the mood for breaking the rules. With. You." she enunciated on purpose each word.

Lexa gulped and immediately ran back, surely stranding Clarke while kissing her deeply, humming her contentment. "The things I do for you." the brunette murmured before taking her boots and jacket off.

Clarke quickly started to help her along, using her hands to unbuckle the woman's belt. Smirking when she saw that it was those ones that had several pockets to put the keys and phone, she stopped moving  when she felt Lexa's cellphone vibrate.

"Ignore it." Lexa said while grabbing Clarke's shirt and popping the buttons open.

Clarke held her breath when she felt the sudden cold air that came from being exposed and she dropped Lexa's phone to the ground, which started to vibrate again. Nevertheless, both women ignored it because they were completely focused on getting Lexa's shirt off as well.

Huffing in annoyance at the inconvenient tightness of her shirt, Lexa was almost ready to tear it apart when she felt Clarke's phone vibrate as well, which made her groan angrily against Clarke's chest.

Clarke smiled sadly and kissed the top of Lexa's lip while getting ready to answer the call.  

"Dr. Griffin." she said while kissing Lexa's hand.

 _'Is Lexa with you? I called her but she didn't answer.'_ Anya said.

"She is here." Clarke simply answered while getting up and fixing herself.

Lexa pouted but still followed up and started to gather all her stuff.  

 _'Maybe she forgot to switch it back from silent mode.'_ Anya added _. 'We need you two to come as soon as possible to the conference room.'_

"Do we have a new case?" Lexa asked while taking Clarke's phone and quickly putting it on speaker mode.

 _'I'm afraid it's worse than that.'_ Anya said quietly _. 'We got a video-call. From our couple's killer.'_

Lexa and Clarke looked at each other.

"We will be there in five minutes." Lexa said while hanging up. "Listen Clarke, whatever happens, know that I am right here with you. He knows who you are, which he will use to his advantage, Don't let him get to you."

Clarke nodded while taking Lexa's in a measure of reasurement. Receiving a soft smile in return, both women quickly made their way to the conference room.

The walk was short, and as soon as both women made it inside they saw a deeply troubled Kane staring at the conference room screen. In it, they noticed a young man and woman sleeping peacefully.

Lexa realized right away what this meant; the creature was taunting them to act on impulse, to try to make them think that there was nothing they could do to save those humans. The brunette noticed that the creature heard them get in and it quickly smiled when it focused its eyes on Clarke.

Lexa noticed this and immediately placed herself in front of Clarke, the creature's gaze changing to one of amusement at her reaction.

"So good that you could finally join us Dr. Griffin." it said while smiling. "And from what I'm seeing you brought a new friend. Tell me, who are you?"

"Keep trying creature." Lexa spat angrily.

The creature laughed and again focused on Clarke. "Did you open the present I left for you at Beacon Hill? Wasn't it something else?"

Clarke stayed quietly looking at the scream, no hint of having felt affected at all.  

"Does it feel strange to you when you're being absorbed by the darkness? Does it surprise you that you feel all of these negative emotions almost every day and still make it out of there unmarked?" it asked the blonde while smiling evilly.

Lexa wanted to get in front of Clarke again and prevent her from hearing more lies and manipulation attempts. She would have done so as well but found herself being restrained by Kane.

"Don't." he whispered to her. "I know you want to but the longer he talks the better location we'll have on him."

"I don't like this." Lexa whispered back.

"Me neither, but this is the only lead we'll had since we found Mrs. Whitmore's body." the older detective tried to reason with her and Lexa huffed in anger because he was right.

"When you invade a person's memories you feel what they feel, see what they feel, have what they've had. And it makes you crave to possess it all. Believe me, I have felt it too." the creature smirked. "I have seen you there as well Dr., walking right past me, trying to convince yourself that you are doing in order to help the dead.  But we both know it's a lie." it smiled wickedly and Lexa noticed Clarke flinch.

"I'm stopping this." Lexa said determinedly.

Kane raised his hand. "Green, what's taking so long?!" he hissed loudly to the IT man.

"We found he's in the Boston area. It's still tracking sir." he apologized yet again.

" The reason you do it, and the reason I do it as well, is because we enjoy it. We enjoy invading and feeling other peoples' emotions as if they were our own. And the reason why we enjoy it so much is because emotions are unachievable for us because we are too logical. Although you may not like it, you have to be fully aware that you and I are not so different from each other."

Although Clarke was not showing it, there was a part of her that was questioning everything the creature had said to her. Because deep inside of her she knew that what it said could be true, her mind and logic being convinced little by little.

Lexa knew that she had to do something before Clarke collapsed.

 _To hell with the location,_ she hissed and immediately moved from behind Kane, who tried to hold her still. Nevertheless, she ignored him and quickly placed herself in front of Clarke, who was crying softly.  

Lexa softly cleaned her tears with her thumbs and then turned around so she could face the camera.

"Listen to me freak creature." Lexa hissed. "You may think that you're very smart and cunning. You may think that this is all a game that you are destined to win." she stood up straighter.  "Sadly for you, now I'm also playing this game, and believe me, I'm very competitive." she added while facing it. "If you don't believe me then go ahead and ask your ghost friend" Lexa spat at the creature and noticed the smallest of reactions.

The creature smiled.

"Perhaps I have been underestimating you." it mused to itself. "But don't worry, that never happens twice." it added while chuckling. "Although I would love to stay and keep talking to you, I'm unable to do so because duty calls." the creature added while looking at couple and walking towards them. "May we meet again." it chuckled and ended the live-streaming.

"Did we get it?" Kane asked the IT guy who frowned at the screen.

"We only got an estimate of his location. It could be between three different jurisdictions."

Kane muttered in anger and then stared at Anya. "Trikru, I want you to contact the three precincts so we can warn them about a possible homicide. Patrol should keep close watch."

Anya nodded and quickly ran out of the conference room. Turning around, he went to face Lexa and Clarke, the brunette woman placing a comforting arm on the blonde doctor. He noticed their closeness and was surprised by it, not expecting them to bond so fast. Nevertheless, Lexa had compromised the case by interfering against his orders.  And, it also seemed that the two of them had kept information from him, one that was related to their case and that had been used against his consent and knowledge.

"Woods, you went against my orders and probably compromised our case."

"It was taunting us!" Lexa hissed. "It knew that we would never find it in time and that's why it called us. Don't you see that by indulging him we are feeding its ego and narcissism?!"

"It wasn't your call to make." he continued arguing.

"It wasn't your right to place Clarke under such an attack." the brunette refuted back. "But it's clear that you don't care about us at all as long as you get what you want."

"Don't push your luck Woods, remember your rank and that I'm your commanding officer. You answer to me."

"I'll remember that when you remember that Clarke does not work for you. She works WITH you and because she wants to help. So show her the respect and courtesy that she deserves."

"The same one she has shown me?" Kane asked sarcastically while focusing on the blonde woman. "You never told us that you had a new lead concerning our case."  

"We didn't know that it was connected to this case until just now." Clarke explained sternly. "The reason I asked you for time and Lexa's help was because I needed her for a case."

"A case with the New York Medical Examiner's department." he remembered well. "And based on what I just heard, a case that had a connection to our killer"

"We didn't know they were connected." Lexa explained. "Not until the creature named that it wasn't stopping."

"We apologize for not telling you earlier." Clarke said honestly.

Kane nodded and realized that his anger was mostly at the creature and not at the two women. Lexa had been right in stepping in when she did and he had no right to compromise the mental health of one of his agents.

"And I apologize for not intervening sooner." he said honestly. "So will you tell me now what you have learned?"

"His name is Mephisto." Lexa said while looking at him. "And yes, without us knowing until now, it turned out that Mephisto has been manipulating the memories from his victims and making us see what he wants us to see."

"So what we thought were clues were simply things that the creature wanted us to see, to mislead us." he realized bitterly. "This creature is too experienced and complex. It will not make mistakes easily and it will play us all until it gets what you want."

It was at this moment that Anya returned to the conference room and sat right next to Monty, the IT guy, who up until now had been silently hearing their conversation. Lexa had completely forgotten about him.

"Did you talk to them?"

"They said that they would be on alert but that they can't do much than send a few patrols to make some rounds. They don't want people to panic." Anya muttered.

"Now that we have a picture of the creature I can make light cameras scan videos and images to try to close on its location." Monty added.

"It's worth a shot." Kane said bitterly.

Clarke nodded in agreement and then got ready to deliver more bad news. "It is a replicant as well"

Kane, Anya and Monty looked surprised.

"How do you know this Clarke?" Kane asked.  

"Because of the things that it was saying, like implanting memories is one ability. Being able to access memories is another one completely different. If he has those two abilities then that must mean that he's replicating them from other creatures or humans."

"Then we are more than screwed." Anya said. "If the creature keeps changing the memories then we will never know what is reality and what is a lie."

Lexa nodded. "Then I guess it's a good thing that we have an ace under our sleeve."

Kane and Anya looked at Clarke,  waiting for confirmation, but when they saw her just as surprised as they were they knew that she was not a part of Lexa's plan.

Lexa just huffed. "You have me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter I introduced two new terms that will be key during the rest of the story. The first one is replicant, which are basically individuals that are capable of imitating and reproducing any ability they see or feel. Both Lexa and Mephisto are replicants, and the reason why they are capable of manipulating and changing the abilities of carriers is because they adapt it to their own situation and emotions.  
> As Clarke explained it to Lexa, the way abilities react is unpredictable because they are mostly influenced by the feelings of the carrier, which means that abilities can repeat themselves between humans and creatures but still act differently. Because creatures also have abilities, Lexa was capable of replicating the abilities of the specter and use them against it while trying to save Clarke.
> 
> The second important term, and that I invented, (trying to make it a little bit realistic) is the Chicondria, which is basically the organelle responsible for the creation of abilities. The Chicondria is created because of the uncommon high level of Myelin Sheath in the brain cells of both humans with abilities and creatures. This irregularity leads to the brain expanding, which in return allows the creation of the ability.


	7. Lasagna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa experiences a new ability and asks Clarke a very important question.

_"You have me."_ Clarke heard Lexa say, making both Sergeant Kane and Anya look at her expectantly. This was the complete opposite of what they had agreed to do moments before, which wasn't good at all.

"What Lexa means by that..." Clarke started to say, trying to gain some time. "Is that before she arrived to the Unit we had no idea that Mephisto was a replicant."

 _Which is true,_ Clarke thought to herself. "But now, and thanks to her help in New York, I was able to determine that the reason why Mephisto is so hard to locate is because he is manipulating the evidence and confusing us." _which is also true._

Clarke saw that both detectives nodded, satisfied by the answer she gave them. When she looked at Lexa she saw her smiling amusedly at her. A sudden anger came over her, and without wasting time she strongly grabbed the brunette from the arm and dragged her out of the conference room, making sure to close the room after them. Lexa was going to say something but Clarke didn't let her.

"What the hell were you even thinking Lexa?!" she yelled. "We agreed on a plan and you went completely against it. Do you know how bad it feels to have your opinion being discredited that fast? Or how awful it felt to endure that conversation with Mephisto? A conversation that at some point I do believe is true?" she was still screaming while holding her tears. "I thought we were in this together."

Lexa was speechless, her plan having completely backfired against her. She tried to grab Clarke's hands but the blonde wouldn't let her, instead separating herself even more.

Lexa knew she had to make Clarke listen to her.

"I did not betray your trust. I was not going to tell them about me having a special ability." Lexa stopped herself, watching how Clarke's anger was increasing because they both knew she was lying. She had planned on revealing her powers.

 _It's not a good time to let your pride control you Lexa,_ she realized.

"Actually, I don't know what I was trying to do Clarke. I allowed my emotions to take control of me. What that creature said to you, and how it said it, I swear I wanted to kill beast, still want to kill it." Lexa confessed,  which finally made Clarke look at her. "And I know that although it seemed that it didn't affect you, I know that deep inside it did."

"That doesn't mean that you have to start a crazy vendetta and get yourself killed on my behalf. Like Finn did." she whispered.

"I know Clarke, and I'm sorry." Lexa said honestly. "But I know how much what it said hurt you and I want to make you feel better. I'm here for you." she vowed. "So please talk to me."

After a while of just looking at Lexa, Clarke nodded and sat down, followed by the brunette who took her hand.

"Maybe he is not wrong." Clarke whispered.

"What are you talking about?"

"Maybe I am like him." the blonde said quietly.

"You are nothing like it." Lexa answered angrily. Her anger was not towards Clarke, but towards the creature that made the doctor believe she was evil.

"When this case began I just started to think about things I never really thought about before." Clarke started to say quietly. "And I just realized something when I was reading about Mephisto that it just never occurred to me before." she took a deep breath before continuing. " There was a lot of benign neglect: I didn't ask for much, I don't think I ever really knew how, and the less that I would ask for, the less time people would have for me." Clarke finished while tears were falling from her eyes.

Lexa smiled sadly and kissed the blonde's hands. "No matter what happened to you, you are nothing like that monster, ok?" the brunette said fiercely. "Yeah, you are a little antisocial, maybe a little goofy, but that's not the same thing. What you truly are is a very beautiful and lovable human being that has so much to give. Me." Lexa continued softly. "I'm just one more lucky person that will be able to experience it." she finished while watching Clarke's reaction. When she saw her smile and nod in acceptance she relaxed, aware that they had taken too long to go back to the conference room.

Lexa was going to tell Clarke that they needed to go back, but as soon as she started to get up the blonde closed the distance between them and kissed her quickly on the lips. It wasn't a passionate kiss, but a loving kiss, a thank you for being here kiss. Lexa returned it happily, quickly taking Clarke's hand and leading her outside. They quickly noticed that headquarters was a nightmare, everyone on edge or expecting a call  that confirmed the finding of the bodies.

Lexa hated to admit that this creature was too smart and cunning, which was the complete definition of evilness in her book. She was worried about Clarke and how vulnerable the creature had made the blonde feel, which wasn't something completely unexpected. From what she had managed to see, Clarke was troubled by her past and the way her ability worked. Because it was clear that Clarke believed that her ability came from darkness and the macabre. Ironically, for Lexa, the blonde woman was the complete opposite: She was a ray of sunlight in the darkness of this world. Her innocence, self-sacrifice and care were enduring; and her love for life and the small moments was enviable. Clarke was simply perfect and it made Lexa feel sad and angry to realize that only Clarke couldn't see it. Hell, even her own dad would tell Clarke that she was better than Lexa.

Her dad, Lexa thought suddenly. She had been avoiding him, not sure of how to explain to him what usually happened on the job.

 _"You know dad, just everyday stuff. I went inside a dead person's memories and killed a specter, which is a creature that goes inside people's minds. And also, I found out I have powers, or abilities, as Clarke prefers to call them."_ she imagined herself telling her father, which would surely make the man faint or laugh at her.

She thought of Clarke again, and how lonely she had felt during her childhood. This suddenly gave her an idea.

"Kane..." Lexa started to say. Kane interrupted her before she even began talking.

"You can go home Lexa, there is nothing you can do, hell, nothing anyone can do." he said exasperated. "Tell that to the doc too."

Lexa smiled softly and nodded, but before she left she remembered a question she had for him. "Kane, how does your ability work?"

Kane laughed softly. "I told you, I read people's minds."

"No you don't." Lexa said while smiling. "Clarke explained it to me, in Clarke's terms, so although I got the essence of it I still wonder how you make it work."

"The trick is into pretending to not know what to expect." he said wistfully. "People don't like it when you tell them that you've already heard them say something when in reality they haven't."

"Can you control it?"

"With practice I have learned to use it in my favor. I  realized that with me knowing what will happen, and my reaction based on that knowledge, the future that I saw happening will change because the way I acted differed."

"That's complex. Bet that helps a lot during interrogations." she added conspirationally.

"You have no idea." Kane winked at her while punching her shoulder lightly. "Now off you go so you can sleep for a while."

Lexa smiled again and left headquarters, thinking about how awesome it would be to have Kane's ability. She started making her way towards the morgue, excited about the prospect of telling Clarke her plan. When she got in she noticed that no one was there, which was completely strange. Grabbing her gun out of instinct, Lexa started to move around the different rooms, finding nothing out of place or out of the ordinary. It must have been seconds before she heard footsteps behind her, which made her turn around and quickly aim her weapon at a very scared Clarke.

"Oh my God I'm so sorry Clarke." she said while lowering her weapon and making her way towards the blonde.

Clarke chuckled and exhaled, not realizing that she had been holding her breath. "Lexa! what in the world?"

Lexa chuckled. "I was looking for you." she added while smiling and smirking at Clarke.

"Oh really?" Clarke told her flirtingly.

"Why yes, yes I was. I have a proposition for you." Lexa said while suddenly getting nervous.

Clarke looked up amused.

"Well, I was thinking, and you know, I think it would be really nice if you could meetmyfather." Lexa said quickly, too embarrassed.

Lexa saw Clarke look at her completely taken aback. "Meet your father?" she stuttered.

"Well, I mean, since you didn't hang out with your mother when you were a kid I thought it..." Lexa started to say, immediately realizing that it was all coming out the wrong way.

"So just because I didn't spend time with my family you think that I should meet yours? Because you feel pity for me?" Clarke asked angrily.

Lexa closed her eyes, trying to think of what to say so she could fix her mistake. When she reopened them she saw Clarke staring at her amusedly.

"You were going to tell me your proposition?" Clarke said excitedly "You know, I do feel adventurous right now." she added flirtingly.

Lexa just stayed still. "But I already told you, meeting my father?"

Clarke froze, and after a couple of seconds started to move around the office. "Meet your father?"

Lexa just nodded. "Yeah, you know, I thought about what we talked earlier, and I think it would be nice..."

"So it's not because you want me to meet him but because you feel sorry for me? Because I didn't have a relationship with my own mother?" Clarke asked angrily.

"I already told you that I didn't mean it like that!" Lexa said exasperated.

"How could you have told me when we haven't talked about this until now?!"

Lexa's mouth fell open. She knew what this meant: when Kane touched her he probably passed her his ability, and without her knowledge she had been seeing things ahead of time. She was confused, and desperation made her close her eyes yet again.

"Meet your father?" she heard Clarke ask her while looking up surprised. "When?"

"Tonight." Lexa said carefully. "I know that maybe it's soon for this to happen, or maybe even a little desperate of me, but I would really like you to meet him because you are wonderful and I want to show people that I am with a very beautiful woman."

Clarke smiled brightly, making her way to Lexa and kissing her on the lips sweetly. Lexa relaxed and responded to the kiss, closing her eyes because of the reflex.

When she opened them she was facing Clarke, who looked expectantly at her.

"When are we meeting your father?" Clarke asked quietly.

Lexa just started to scream and grabbed Clarke's hands. "Kane touched me." Lexa almost cried. "And apparently I replicated his ability and I keep repeating this conversation time and time again."

Clarke quickly looked at her and laughed. "How many times have we talked about this?"

Lexa exhaled. "This is the fifth time. I don't know how to control this."

Clarke thought about what she said for a while. "What has been a common pattern in all of the conversations?"

"I'm nervous because I am asking you to meet my dad and I don't know how you will react." Lexa said embarrassed. "But the last time I asked it actually went well and we started kissing, but then boom I open my eyes and here I am." the brunette said frustrated.

Clarke laughed again, finding the situation amusing. "Well, you must have said something really dumb before because I don't think I could say no to you." the blonde confessed shyly.

Lexa looked up at Clarke and touched her cheek. "Neither could I, and I'm sorry if sometimes I don't know how to express myself. But this." she said while pointing at the two of them. "Is something so new to me, and quite wonderful, that I'm afraid of messing things up."

Clarke smiled and kissed Lexa's cheek. "The only thing that you need to do is be yourself, Alexandra Woods."

"Good." Lexa said. "Because I'm now going to kiss the hell out of you, close my eyes and restart this conversation." Lexa said while taking Clarke's face and putting her lips on top of hers.  

"When are we meeting your father Lexa?" Clarke asked her while looking nervous.

Lexa smiled and kissed her softly, making Clarke relax immediately. "I was wondering if it could be tonight. Lately I've been ignoring him and I feel kinda bad about it. It would mean a lot if you came." Lexa said while showing Clarke her famous puppy eyes.

Clarke smiled and nodded, quickly gasping as she noticed her clothes. "Why didn't you warn me Lexa, or at least tell me in advance so I could wear something nicer?"

Lexa just smiled. "You look wonderful Clarke, and I know for certain that my dad will love you." she said while grabbing Clarke's keys and pushing her to the door. "He has always wanted a doctor in the family."

CLCLCLCL

"Paaaaa, I'm hereeee!" Lexa screamed while going inside the house, quickly trying to get the things that were on the floor.

Clarke came in behind her, her eyes analyzing the house where Lexa grew up, trying her best to learn more about the brunette. She was surprised when two men came out to meet them, one looking very longingly at her. She saw that Lexa noticed this because she immediately felt the brunette grab her from the waist and pull her close. She liked jealous Lexa.

"Lincoln, Bellamy." the detective said while looking at the second one with seriousness. "This is Dr. Clarke Griffin. We work together at the Special Homicide Unit." she said while motioning to Clarke who started shaking their hands. "Lincoln is my brother and works as a cop in the Boston P.D. Bellamy is his best friend."  

"Best friend since kids and neighbors as well. Almost like another brother." Bellamy exclaimed. "Basically grew up with these two." he hugged Lincoln and Lexa, who looked uncomfortable but didn't reject him.

Lincoln was the first one that broke free of the hug.

"You are the famous Dr. Griffin?!" Lincoln said while shaking her hand. "I have heard so much about you!"

"I hope good things." Clarke said quietly.

He nodded. "Only that you are the best medical examiner that the state of Massachusetts has ever had."

Lexa smiled at that comment and squeezed Clarke's hand. "That she definitely is."

"And probably the hottest." Bellamy added while smiling at Clarke, who smiled in return. "With you being so beautiful I bet that many guys drool over you."

Lexa just snorted, angry at her brother's best friend remarks. Clarke decided to answer him.

"Well, I'm not so sure of that. Most men find very unattractive my field of work."

Bellamy just kept on smiling and subtly pushed Lexa out of Clarke's way, him taking her place instead and putting a hand over the blonde's shoulder. "I don't believe that! Well, guess it's their loss and my win." he added while winking at her.

Lexa was going to hit him in the head with her gun but then her father came in.

"Lexa, darling!" he screamed while running towards the brunette and hugging her, unaware of Clarke's presence. "I have been so worried about you. You haven't called, you haven't visited. What kind of daughter does that?!"

"The kind that is busy." Lexa said sarcastically.

"You work too hard and they don't pay me anything for that." Gustus said dramatically.

"Well, I guess that's why it's my job and not yours." Lexa said angrily. She turned around and saw Bellamy's hand on Clarke's shoulder, which made her get a little bit angrier. "We have a guest today."

Gustus immediately looked around the room and saw Clarke, who was shyly looking at the whole scene. He went towards the blonde and gave her a nice hug. Clarke reciprocated it, taking advantage of the situation and separating herself from Bellamy, who had been talking to her about baseball.

"Where are my manners?" Gustus said dramatically. "My name is Gustus Woods and welcome to my home."

Lexa just huffed. _So like the movies._

Clarke smiled. "And I'm Clarke Griffin, and thank you for allowing me to be here."

Gustus just smiled. "It's nothing dear, especially because it's the first time that Lincoln has brought someone." he said while going towards him and patting his back. "You did such a wonderful job, she is beautiful and polite."

"Yeah, he would have done a good job if he did indeed bring Clarke." Lexa said while going to the kitchen and getting two beers. She gave one to the blonde. "Clarke works with me at the Special Homicide Unit."

"She is one of the best Medical Examiners out there." Lincoln added while smiling at Clarke.

 _You too Lincoln?!,_ Lexa thought angrily. _What the hell is wrong with my them?_

"Medical Examiner, so you are a doctor?" Gustus asked curiously.

"Yes, I am."

"You must have many patients, especially with that beauty." Gustus said while smirking at Lincoln and Bellamy.

 _And now they're objectifying her,_ Lexa was ashamed of her family.

"I don't think my patients care that much about my physical appearance."

"Nonsense." Gustus said. "Everyone cares about that!"

"Well, these patients don't because they are all dead when they get to Clarke's office." Lexa said pissed. She had forgotten how irritating her family could be.

Gustus just looked surprised at Clarke, who smiled softly.

"That's true, I work for the Boston PD and help them solve homicides."

Before anyone else could ask Clarke any more questions, Lexa quickly excused both of them and headed upstairs, saying that she was going to give Clarke a tour of the house. When they both made it to Lexa's old room she closed the door.

"I had forgotten how irritating my family could be." Lexa said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Clarke smiled. "It's quite enduring."

"And those two! It's like they are two teenage boys who have just discovered boobs."

Clarke laughed heartedly at that last comment. "Is Lexa Woods jealous?"

Lexa just looked down, pretending to be uninterested. "Course I'm not."

Clarke just smiled wider. "Well, Bellamy does seem nice, and he has a very well defined pectoralis major and serratus anterior."

Lexa just looked up to Clarke, who was smiling. "Is that so Dr. Griffin? Is my brother' friend better than me?" the brunette added huskily while getting closer to Clarke, who was holding her breath in sheer excitement.

"Maybe?" Clarke managed to say before softly moaning after Lexa carefully placed her leg between hers.

"Mmmmm." Lexa said while moving it up and making Clarke yelp. "Guess I'll have to win you back."

Clarke nodded, too unaware of what was happening and where they were. "I sure wouldn't mind that." she whispered.

Lexa just smiled and kissed Clarke's lips, at the same time placing her upper body carefully over the blonde. They stayed in that position for a couple of minutes, soft and calming kisses satisfying them both. Nevertheless, Lexa  took Clarke's hand and placed it under her shirt, fact that made Clarke look up hungrily at her. The brunette contracted her muscles under Clarke's touch, on purpose making her abdominals show.

"You know." Lexa said while still moving Clarke's hand around her stomach. "I was always a little bit too proud of my abs."

"And you should be." the blonde said reverently. "They feel quite wonderful."

Lexa smiled again and finally took her shirt off. Clarke kept on staring without decorum, amazed at the body that was standing in front of her. She could see drops of sweat pouring down the brunette's abs and she desperately placed her mouth on top of them and sucked Lexa's stomach, making the detective hold their breath.

"You truly are a wonderful human specimen." Clarke whispered while moving up to Lexa's chest, her stare lingering on the simple black bra that was covering her breasts.

It was clear that the only reason Clarke was waiting was so she could give her permission to remove the bra. And Lexa was more than willing to give it to her. She nodded in confirmation and in a matter of seconds she felt a warm tongue move around her nipples.

Lexa started to moan, waves of pleasure filling every part of her body.

"Oh Clarke." she whispered said quietly. "I swear that if I see my brother or Bellamy,  or hear my father, make any more remarks or suggestions about them being with you I will personally hit each one of them."

Clarke just smiled and kissed Lexa's ear. "Or you could just tell them the truth."

"Which is?" Lexa asked quietly. They had never discussed their relationship, or even if they were in one. Everything had been so fast.

"That I'm sadly not available anymore."

Lexa smiled deeply and kissed Clarke again. "Good, because I don't like sharing what is mine." she added flirtingly. "And you are definitely mine, Clarke Griffin."

Clarke felt Lexa's mouth suck on her neck, and instantly knowing what the brunette was trying to do she tried to move away. Surprisingly, after a couple of seconds she started to feel pleasure and instead of pulling Lexa away she was encouraging her to get closer. It was minutes until Lexa finally let go of Clarke's neck, smiling softly.

"Are you a vampire now Lex?" Clarke huffed in fake annoyance.

"I know it's rude to leave marks." Lexa said embarrassed. "But I wanted to reassure myself."

"Reassure yourself of what?" Clarke tried to sound angry without success.

"That you really want me." 

Clarke nodded and kissed Lexa. "You didn't need to do that in order to reassure yourself."

Lexa smiled. "No. That." she said while pointing at Clarke's hickey. "Was a warning for my the people downstairs, who I bet are waiting anxiously for your return ."

Nodding in agreement. Clarke stood up from the bed and went to grab Lexa's bra and shirt. She smiled at the brunette who started blushing when she started to dress her. It was endearing.

"So you don't mind me getting you half-naked but you blush when I put your clothes on?" Clarke joked.

"It's different." Lexa blushed even more. "It shows that you care about me."

"Of course I care about you Lexa. Please believe that."

"I'm starting to." the brunette smiled softly while grabbing Clarke's hand while pulling her out of her room.

Both of them made their way downstairs and towards the table, where Lincoln, Bellamy and Gustus were already sitting down and clearly waiting for them. Lexa smiled and took out Clarke's chair, earning herself an appreciation smile from the blonde.

Before coming downstairs,  Clarke had tried to add some make-up to the hickey, arguing that it was embarrassing to be seen with one. Nevertheless, it was clear than even covered you could still see the bruise if you focused on that section of Clarke's neck.

After saying a quick grace they all started to eat, Lexa clearly enjoying the food while Clarke complimented Gustus, who took this as his cue to ask the blonde doctor more questions.

"So tell me Clarke, are you single?" he asked straight away and noticed Clarke blushing.  

"Pa, don't be rude to Clarke. She just met you." Lexa said.

"Well, it's just that I saw her have a bruise on her neck and..."

Clarke yelped embarrassed. _She knew this would happen._

"Paaaa, what the hell!!" Lexa exclaimed angrily. She saw both Lincoln and Bellamy instantly focus on Clarke's neck, which made the blonde woman become more uncomfortable.

Lexa knew that this was it, no chance to think things further. She took a deep breath. "Clarke is not single." she said firmly.

Gustus clearly looked disappointed by this, having expected the woman to be single so she could date Lincoln or even Bellamy. "Have we heard by any chance of this person you're with?"

If Lexa had already opened the window for questions by saying that she was single, the Clarke was going to follow along. She nodded. "I believe you have." she merely said.  

Bellamy then quickly interrupted Gustus. "Tell us who it is then." he added a little resented.

Instead of letting Clarke answer Lexa stood up. "I'm dating Clarke." she said bluntly.

Everyone dropped their forks, the cat out of the bag. Clarke nervously looked at Lexa, who was quietly staring at her father.

"That's so wonderful Lexa!" she heard Gustus say while quickly going to hug both women. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

Lexa just smiled, encouraged by her father's support. "Well, I didn't know how you would all react."

"Like we always do, supporting every decision you take." Lincoln said while smiling. "And we like Clarke."

Bellamy just nodded and shoot Lexa an apologetic smile, one that she returned whole heartedly.  

"Well, now that we have that out there." Gustus said while making his way to the kitchen. "Who wants Lasagna?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual I like to explain some things from the chapter after I finish it so that it's not spoiled.
> 
> 1\. Lexa was capable of deciding what part of her conversation with Clarke she wanted to repeat (unconsciously). The reason she could so was, because as Clarke explained it to her, not only does she have the ability of replicating others' abilities, but she can also improve and/or upgrade them.
> 
> 2\. Some of you may be surprised that I did not make Lexa's coming out be more scandalous (if it can be considered a coming out). As you have probably seen, I haven't discussed much of Lexa's backstory, yet). There are some really nice stories that do focus on discovering your sexuality and stuff (which works based on the story). But in my case I felt that Lexa's sexuality (and the way the rest of characters respond to it) is more of a choice of who she wants to be with. Where I see this occur a lot is on Canadian television, especially on shows like Orphan Black and Lost Girl. I wanted to use that kind of approach, the one that is not scandalized by the fact that Lexa is with Clarke; but of the fact that she thought people would react badly to the relationship. We shouldn't have to worry about a person's sexuality, but instead of how that person is as an individual.


	8. Pheromone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter? Yay! 
> 
> The Special Homicide Unit faces a new case and Lexa realizes the extent of her newly discovered ability.

Lexa was walking towards the crime scene, her thoughts mostly focused on Clarke and on what they had been doing until she got the call from Kane. It had been one week since the two women had dinner with Lexa's family, and although it did make things become 'official' between the two of them, Lexa still had to poke herself when she realized that Clarke was dating her.

Things at Headquarters had been tough too. The day after the dinner date they got notified that the bodies of the couple were found. Lexa had been concerned about this, but their worries increased when they realized the couple was ritualistically set up in their living room. Even more strange was strange was the fact that there were no clear signs of the presence of a werewolf in the living room or on the victims.

( _Flashback to a Week Ago)_

"Maybe because the apprentice went against his plans, Mephisto decided to work this one solo?" Anya theorized while looking away from the couple, the nausea obvious on her face.  

"Against IT, let's not forget that." Lexa said angrily. "And I don't think it's that simple. Mephisto is smart and cunning, that I'm completely sure off."

"You know Lexa, it's not uncommon for creatures to finish partnerships." Kane said wistfully. "They are less faithful and loyal than humans and are not too concerned about normal social patterns. It's not a matter of companionship but of survival."

Lexa just refused to accept it was that simple. "No Kane, I don't believe that. I do know that the creature is a sociopath but I feel like he is playing with us, like he is purposely letting the case cool down."

"Perhaps, but without much evidence from previous murders, we have to admit that we are running out of leads." Anya murmured.

Lexa just stared at her partner, shocked. "So because of that we are just going to give up and stop looking for it?!" she added angrily.

Kane stepped up. "From what Dr. Griffin and you have told us about it, it would not be the first time that the creature managed to escape the law. And although it sucks to admit it, without evidence we can't just keep pursuing this."

"But it threatened Clarke!" Lexa screamed. "You were there when the creature spoke at her, mocked her and challenged her."

"It wouldn't be the first time that this has occurred to us, Lexa." Anya said while looking at her. "And our work is a little more difficult than the one of normal homicide detectives because our killers are way smarter and careful into hiding their identity."

Lexa just huffed. "This is unbelievable." she said while grabbing her keys. "Call me when we actually have some work to do."

_(End of Flashback)_

It had been one week exactly since she stormed out of Headquarters, and during that whole time Lexa started to think that maybe she had been fired, her worry being obvious to Clarke, who had been very willing to help and calm her down.

_(Flashback)_

"I just felt so angry. Not at them, but at the creature. It's just not fair, to its victims or to us." Lexa said while sinking down on the bed, looking at the ceiling.

She felt Clarke lay down next to her. "If life were fair, all 7 billion of us would have one shoe and a piece of cardboard to call home."

Lexa smiled softly at this remark, glad to know that Clarke was not trying to patronize her. "I kinda love when you do that."

Clarke smiled brightly. "Do what?"

"That, throwing some interesting fact or explaining a word."

"Etymology?"

Lexa laughed. "You just can't stop, can you?"

Clarke smiled while pushing herself up to face Lexa. "What is really troubling you Lx?"

Lexa looked deeply at Clarke. "That the creature seems to be playing us. And that, to some sick extent, this is all just a game to it."

Clarke took a deep breath. "Kane and Anya mentioned their discussion with you. And I'm not upset." she added while watching how Lexa started to react. "But do you remember what I told you  when we saw my memory of Finn's murder?"

Clarke nodded softly.

"Well, that's how it usually works in Special Homicides. It sadly takes longer for us to catch the killers, mostly because they are very difficult to identify in a world when sometimes crimes of humans are very similar in terms of crudeness and evilness to the ones of creatures."

"I do understand that Clarke, but I just can't lay still and pretend that nothing is wrong when I know that a sick and dangerous creature is out there planning its next murder." Lexa breathed deeply. " It's just not me."

Clarke nodded. "No, it's not. And that's what makes you be such a wonderful human being."

_(End of Flashback)_

As Lexa started to make her way to the crime scene, she saw that the M.E in charge of processing it was no other than Dr. Pike, who from what she saw was torturing the detective that was analyzing the scene with him. Headquarters had asked her to come check the scene because they were not sure if a creature had been responsible for it or a human being. Lexa had volunteered to come since she felt she owed Anya and Kane the favor for having to deal with her bad humor.

When they heard her get close, the two men turned around when they saw her shadow and immediately the detective smiled brightly, realizing that this was his cue to leave. Lexa just exhaled, preparing herself for what she knew was going to be a very tedious and boring case.

"Hello Detective, you look rather stunning today." Dr. Pike said while greeting her coldly.

 _Yeah, he still isn't over that fight in Clarke's office,_ Lexa realized while smiling.

"Why thank you, you don't look so bad yourself." the brunette said sarcastically. "Now tell me, what do we have here?"

Dr. Pike just nodded, desperate to make the woman leave. "Woman, late twenties, no entry or exit wounds, no signs of discoloration on any parts of her body, no visible signs of sexual assault. And." he added while taking the cover off the body. "We found her like this."

Lexa looked at the face of the woman, stopping herself from yelping. Strangely, and creepily, the woman was smiling deeply, which actually made her stomach turn. "Can't you put her mouth back to normal?"

"I tried, but the body is in rigor mortis, so unless you want me to comprise forensic evidence then you will have to wait until I have this body at the morgue, Detective Woods." he added with an air of superiority.

Lexa thought about what he heard from Dr. Pike, specially focusing on the way the woman died and that smile on her face. It was not normal. She quickly followed Pike and stood in front of him, preventing him from entering the coroners van.

"Move, Detective Woods." he said impatiently. "The longer I wait to start this autopsy, the more forensic evidence is going to be lost."

"Too bad because you won't be doing this autopsy." Lexa told him while getting her new badge out. "I deem this murder as suspicious, and since I am a member of the Special Homicide Unit,  I release the homicide department from the responsibility of this crime and its investigation; which will now be conducted by our department."

Dr. Pike just looked speechless at her. "You cannot do that!"

Lexa just smiled. "Actually, I can. One just gotta love bureaucracy. Besides, we have a more capable M.E working in our department." the brunette couldn't stop herself from saying.

She saw Dr. Pike's expression suddenly freeze, the surprise of Lexa's statement unbalancing him from his line of thought. This gave the brunette enough time to close the door of the van while telling the driver to take the body to the Special Homicide Headquarters.

"This will not stay like this Woods." Pike threatened her while getting on his car. "You will hear from the Mayor very soon."

"Looking forward to it!" Lexa waved at him and saw the man grunt in anger. She loved to piss him off.

When Lexa finally got to Headquarters she went directly to talk to Kane, who was on the phone. He looked at her arrive and smiled softly, amusement on his face.

"Yes, I will tell her that Lieutenant." he added while hanging up. "Would you look at that, it's Miss Congeniality." he added sarcastically.

Lexa just smiled softly. "Hey, hope I didn't get you in a lot of trouble."

"Not so much. As I told you, bureaucracy is great for us." he smiled. "But Jaha did tell me that they had to calm down a very upset Dr. Pike."

Lexa smiled at the memory. "He deserved it."

"Which is why I'm not taking you out of this case." he said while standing up.

The two of them quickly made their way to the morgue, Anya deciding to just stay upstairs and run some information on the belongings that were discovered with the victim. They both just laughed and left the younger woman there, on purpose giving her a lot of paperwork that need be filled out.

When Lexa and Kane finally made it to the morgue, they saw that Clarke was already making the Y incision on the woman's body while telling herself notes about the irregularities that she noticed on the body. When she heard them come in she turned around, giving Lexa a bright smile, and that she felt herself return eagerly.

"Detectives, what can I do for you?" Clarke asked while leaving her tools on the table.

"You could tell us if this woman was killed by a creature." Lexa said sweetly.

Clarke smiled. "I can't tell you which creature yet. But what I can say is that this woman was indeed killed by a creature with abilities. There were no entry or exit wounds, no signs of natural death and yet here she is. Rather interesting." she added to herself.

"And what about her... smile?" Kane added shyly.

"I'm not sure yet. This is actually the first time I have ever seen something like this." Clarke confessed quietly. "But I swabbed the inside of her mouth to see if there are some kind of chemicals involved."

"What, like a laugh gas?" Lexa asked sarcastically. "Have you been watching too much Batman?"

Kane smiled at the remark, Clarke on the other hand not understanding it at all. "The comic? I think what you meant to say is reading."

"Seriously, you haven't watched a Batman movie?"

Clarke shook her face.

"We will fix that as soon as possible." Lexa said while smiling. "With some nice beers and pizza."

Clarke nodded, but before she could answer the brunette she was suddenly distracted by a smell that was coming from the body. She noticed that she wasn't the only one who could smell it.

"Clarke, what the hell is that smell?" Lexa said while putting her fingers on her nose.

Clarke was as perplexed as the detectives. She then turned the skin around the Y incision open and couldn't help herself from yelping at what she saw. Both detectives made their way to the body and also screamed. The organs inside the woman's body were decomposing at an incredible rate because of a strange green liquid.

"Is that even possible?" Kane asked while taking his hands away from the woman's body.

Clarke nodded. "There are some creatures that can have the ability to leave acid inside a victim's body."

"But in what way could they leave it...." Lexa started to ask, suddenly realizing the answer. "So the creature was male?"

Clarke nodded. "For the acid to work on the victim, it has to probably be inserted on the victim's body for at least four hours."

"So she died right after having sex with the creature." Lexa said horrified. "What kind of creature could do that?"

"It's not that uncommon for a couple to kill its significant half." Clarke said excitedly. "Take for example the Praying Mantis: the female, after mating with the male, eats it and gives birth to the offspring. Or even spiders can engage in this kind of behavior, which is called sexual cannibalism."

"Thank you Dr. Doolittle." Clarke said sarcastically.

"It takes longer when you make jokes." Clarke said calmly.

"I would poke my eyes if I didn't."

Clarke chuckled. "As soon as the results of the DNA come back I will let you both know."

Lexa smiled back and with Kane headed out of the morgue, chuckling lightly at their conversation: _One just has to love Clarke and her weird fun facts._  

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Lexa was moving swiftly across the police department, too absorbed on what she had come to do. After Kane and her made it back to headquarters, they found Anya waiting for them with some requests from the department of human relations.

_(Flashback)_

_"_ They want you to apologize to Pike." Anya said quietly.

Lexa just opened her mouth. "Me, apologize?! What the hell? He should be the one apologizing to me and especially to Clarke." she then looked at Kane. "And you said that everything was fine."

Kane just sighed. "Apparently Pike did go talk to the mayor and threatened to talk to the media if he didn't receive an apology from you."

"Bastard." Lexa exclaimed.

"I know the guy is an idiot, but if we want to make things run smoothly between departments, you will have to swallow your pride for a while and go apologize."

Lexa just guiltily looked at them, knowing that she was partly responsible for all of this drama and still the two detectives were being very nice and understanding. She sighed.

_(End of Flashback)_

Preparing her poker face and wanting to get done with this silly apology, she quickly went inside the office where they had told her Dr. Pike was. In there she saw him, the man not noticing her entrance. Huffing in annoyance, she made her presence known and the man looked up from his papers. When he saw her his angry and resentful gaze change in a matter of seconds to one of wonder.

_What the hell?_

"Detective Woods." he said while quickly moving close to her. "You came to see me?" he added hopefully.

Lexa was just confused. "Well, I came to apologize for the way I treated you earlier. Not like you left me a choice." she muttered to herself.

"There is nothing you need to apologize, I deserved all of the things you said to me."

Lexa was even more surprised than before. _Then why am I here?_

"Well, I'm glad you are taking things this nicely." she finished while standing up, her advances towards the door stopped by Dr. Pike.

"You are not thinking about leaving already, are you? You just got here." Dr. Pike said sadly. "I want you to stay."

Lexa almost threw up, carefully staring at the man and the way he was looking at her. _Ohhh,_ she now realized.

"Listen Dr. Pike, I'm in the middle of a homicide investigation and Dr. Griffin is waiting for me." she added.

Dr. Pike's gaze became agitated. "Dr. Griffin." he said angrily. "Always taking things that belong to me. First my job, then my reputation and now the attention and time of the woman I love so."

"Love? Trust me, you don't love me. We hate each other in fact." Lexa said exasperated and again stood up to leave.  Nevertheless, she felt Dr. Pike press his body against hers. Disgusted, she felt his arousal and immediately she pushed him off.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" she screamed while leaving the office and a very sad Dr. Pike following her.

"Don't leave me Lexa, please don't."

Lexa just kept walking. "This is ridiculous." she whispered while jogging when she felt Dr. Pike get closer to her.

It took her a few minutes to finally leave the department without Dr. Pike watching her and trying to kiss her. Taking a deep breath and checking herself, she started to realize how unnatural the man's behavior had been. She would have never thought that the man had feelings for her, his ego probably leaving space only for him inside his own mind and heart. Still, it didn't feel right, and after everything she had seen she was willing to give Dr. Pike the benefit of the doubt. 

Deciding to tell Kane and Anya that there wouldn't be any problems for the department, and that maybe someone should check on Pike,  Lexa quickly made her way back to the Special Homicide Unit.  When she finally got there she saw Anya staring boringly at her computer. Lexa smiled and approached her.

"Hey Anya." she said while punching her softly.

The younger woman quickly bolted up and smiled brightly at her, _too brightly._ "You are back."

Lexa just nodded. "Yes, I believe so."

"I missed you." Anya said while getting closer. "Unit is not the same without you."

The brunette smiled nervously. "Well, it was only for a couple of hours."

"Yeah, next time don't leave, in fact don't ever leave me." Anya said while grabbing Lexa's hand and kissing it quickly.

Lexa went backwards, hitting the wall. "Anya, what are you doing?!" she whispered.

Anya just smiled. "You are too intoxicating, did you know that? I have had a crush on you since the first day you got here and now I am acting on it."

Lexa quickly avoided being hugged by Anya, who surprised by the action fell to the floor. Instead of helping her up, Lexa quickly made her way to the morgue, to her safe haven, which was indeed ironic. She now KNEW that there was something wrong: First Pike and now Anya falling head over heels for her. She knew that it was no coincidence, especially since neither had shown any interest in her before today.

She ran to Clarke's office, and not caring about knocking, she quickly went in.

"Clarkeeee." she said while going next to the blonde and grabbing her hands. "Please help me. There is something going on."

Clarke, instead of reacting just stayed there smiling numbly at her. When Lexa started to grow nervous she felt the blonde move a flock of her hair. "I have always liked your curly hair Lexa, and how it feels against my fingers."

"Not you too." she cried. "What is wrong with all of you?"

Clarke's smile froze. "Who else has been talking to you?"

Lexa was surprised by Clarke's ferocity. "Dr. Pike and Anya." she quickly grabbed the doctor when she saw her making her way out of the office. "And where are you going?"

"To tell Pike and Detective Trikru to stay away from my woman." Clarke said angrily. "You are only mine Lexa." she added while angrily kissing the brunette, immediately making her moan.

As much as Lexa was enjoying this side of Clarke she knew that something really wrong was going on. _If you can't beat them, then join them._

"Clarke, darling, please come here." she said sweetly. "I don't care about them, only you."

This made Clarke turn around and head back to where Lexa was. "Only me?"

"Yes, only you." the brunette said while kissing her neck. "Now tell me darling, what have you discovered on the body of the woman."

Clarke smiled, and eager to please Lexa, she started to tell her everything. "There was this chemical that acted like a pheromone, which leads me to believe that the creature uses it to attract its preys."

Lexa stopped kissing Clarke's neck, forcing the brunette to focus on her voice and not her lips. "What would it take for the pheromone to wear off?"

"Not sure, just a couple of minutes. Why?" she added while smiling. "Let's go to my office." Clarke said flirtingly. "I have something that I really really want to show you."

Lexa was very tempted to say yes, but instead she made Clarke look at her.

"Darling, for some strange reason I replicated the ability of this creature. Please get out of it."

Clarke refocused, and suddenly she felt herself breathe normally. In front of her was Lexa, who was pleadingly looking at her for answers.

 "Lexa?" she asked curiously. "What are you doing here?"

Lexa just smiled and kissed her deeply. "Thank God it's you Clarke."

"Who else would it be?" the blonde asked amusedly.

"Well, I ran into Clarke the sex machine a few minutes ago." Lexa said while smirking. "I replicated the ability of the creature that attacked the young woman and suddenly everyone was head over heels in love with me."

Clarke looked up, surprised. "How did you know that the creature produces pheromones that attracts its preys?"

"Let's just say that I convinced you to share this information with me." the brunette smiled sweetly.

"I see." Clarke said, suddenly realizing something. "Wait, so you replicated the ability? But you didn't even see the creature."

"I know Clarke, which makes me worry."

"Perhaps it was when we all smelled the acid, your sense of smell replicated the pheromone that was present on the body."

"I don't know how to control it Clarke. How do I learn to control my ability?"

Clarke just smiled. "With practice and a little bit of patience my darling."

"Which are things that I don't have." Lexa said quietly.

"Well, you have me." Clarke said sarcastically, alluding to Lexa's comments from the other day.

Lexa smiled. "Was that sarcasm Dr. Griffin?"

"I believe it was." the blonde doctor smiled back.

"And you are right, I do have you." Lexa confirmed while kissing Clarke softly. "I have you all to myself."

Clarke allowed herself to be kissed, but she ended the kiss quickly in order to go to her office to gather her stuff.

"Now where are you going?" Lexa asked disappointed.

Clarke smiled. "You mean where are we going."

"Where are WE going?"

"We are going to start your training."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Don't think that I have forgotten about Mephisto or the main case, but as Clarke explained to Lexa, creatures are more cunning than humans and hence they are more difficult to catch, along with the fact that Mephisto has been getting away with its crimes for many centuries. Instead, I wanted to make the story as real as possible and have our team also solve other crimes because that is the way the police usually works.
> 
> 2\. Time wise, it has been one week since Mephisto contacted the Special Homicide Unit, and almost three since Lexa and Clarke met. Although Lexa' family knows about the relationship, because Lexa is still getting to know Kane and Anya they are still not informed of the fact that the two women are dating.
> 
> 3\. That's right! Lexa is going to start her training so she can learn how to control her ability, which will be taught by no other than Clarke, mostly because they still want to keep Lexa's abilities a secret from the rest of the unit.


	9. LOVE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa confront their feelings for one another. And things get steamy...

What Lexa was expecting was a center with technology out of the edge, or maybe even an abandoned building full of practice zones and seasoned members of the unit. I mean, that is what someone would expect when they hear the word 'training'. Instead, Lexa saw that they were going to one of the nice neighborhoods of Boston, Clarke rambling about something that she had read on the monthly edition of the Scientific Journal.

"So where are going exactly Clarke? The Unit has a nice secret training house in Jamaica Plain?" Lexa said while looking through the window. "You know, like Dr. Charles Xavier?"

When Clarke just looked at her with surprise, Lexa just opened her mouth.

"Seriously." Lexa said while grabbing Clarke's hand. "We have a lot of work to do with you and your general knowledge of superheroes."

"So you think that we are superheroes?" Clarke asked her amused.

Lexa smiled embarrassed. "Maybe?"

Clarke laughed. "That's very sweet Lex." she added while grabbing her hand. "But no, the Unit does not have some secret training center in Jamaica Plain."

"Then why are we even here?"

"Because we are going to start your training." Clarke said while stopping the car in front of one of the biggest houses that Lexa had ever seen. "And I think that the best place to start your training is in my house."

"This is your place?" Lexa asked in awe while looking at the scenery.

Clarke nodded while making her way to the front of the house and taking out her key. Lexa followed her, wanting to see everything that there was to see about the woman who she was now considering an important part of her life.

"I got this house for an amazing deal, and as you can see it has many rooms, top security system and soundproof walls." Clarke said proudly.

"Why would you even need all of these things?" Lexa asked curiously. "Afraid your neighbors will make noise complains?" Lexa smirked.

Clarke just looked up embarrassed. "You are actually the first person that has seen my place."

Lexa saw that immediately after Clarke said that the blonde quickly went to the kitchen, trying to get some space to think about the next step. Lexa had noticed Clarke always doing this when she felt scared or worried about someone judging her, which she suspected had happened a lot to Clarke during her growing up years.

Lexa quickly went to stand behind her, and instead of just talking she simply stayed there, waiting. When Clarke noticed that the brunette was there, expecting an explanation or confirmation to speak, she gave her a weak smile.

"It's not that I haven't been with anyone during all my years here in Boston." Clarke said quietly. "Because I have engaged myself in relationships that have led to both emotional and physical intercourse."

Lexa just nodded, not sure of what else to do.

"I think I always expected to feel a love like the one I read during my childhood. The one that lifted you up and made you feel butterflies in your stomach." Clarke confessed while smiling sadly. "And as I started to get older I realized that all of my relationships never fulfilled me, never made me feel all the things that I had spent hours reading during my youth. Soon enough I just gave up on it and decided to never try again, to just fill my needs and move on. And for a while it was ok, and when I got used to it I never expected things to change." Clarke said while going forward and grabbing Lexa's hands. "Until I met you."

Lexa smiled, kissing Clarke's cheek.

"I won't lie to you." Clarke said quietly. "When I first saw you I just wanted to have you and then move on like I had always been used to. But then we talked, and without me even realizing it I was trying to see you more than what I had to, trying to make you understand my world, and by doing that, me. I wanted you to see me as just Clarke and not the Queen of the Dead."

"Oh Clarke." Lexa said while getting her forehead to touch Clarke's. "You have let me see your world, your soul, and all the wonderful things that are in it. Sure, in this world there must be darkness for there to be light, and all of us have inside ourselves this darkness. Yours Clarke is not one to be ashamed or scared off. Yours is one that you should be proud of." Lexa continued saying while grabbing the blonde's hands. "Because during your whole life you've had a tough time and experienced things that could have made you become someone completely different. But you didn't, and instead you became this perfect woman that has, since I met her, been nothing more than caring and understanding."

When Lexa finished she saw that Clarke had tears in her eyes, and quietly she started to kiss them away, gesture that made even more tears fall. She had meant every single word, and she knew that they were the sole truth of who Clarke was.

When she felt the blonde separate from her she opened her own eyes, trying to find her.

"Lexa, can you come here?" she heard Clarke ask her from afar.

Lexa immediately went, walking around many rooms full of very well furnished decorations and strange masks. She frowned, and after being lost for what felt like 15 minutes, she noticed one that room on the contrary side of the hall that seemed to be almost empty, except for a big bamboo carpet and Clarke sitting expectantly in it.

Lexa followed along and sat down, waiting for further directions.

"I have been thinking." Clarke started to say.

"Nothing weird in that." Lexa said while smiling.

Clarke laughed. "I guess it's not. Still, I was thinking about the way your ability seems to work, and based on my observations it does seem as if you can replicate and improve the ability of the person you are in close contact with. Sometimes it's voluntary, especially if you have already experienced the ability of that person, like me. But, when you become in contact with the ability for the first time, your body tends to automatically react to it and replicate it without you even noticing it."

Lexa nodded.

"From my experience, I have realized that the only way to control an ability is by practicing using it in many different scenarios, which is what I'm going to try to do with you today." Clarke said while placing her hands on top of Lexa's. "I want you to touch my hands, but instead of only trying to get inside my head, I want you to specifically focus on creating a map."

"Ok, you just lost me." Lexa huffed while looking at the blonde.

"What I meant is that in order for you to control what memories you can see Lexa, you need to map them, categorize them. The way in which you do so will only affect you and the way you approach them, but if done correctly, the possibilities are infinite. You could choose an specific memory, maybe something that a suspect is refusing or is incapable of telling you." Clarke said excitedly.

Lexa realized what Clarke meant by infinite possibilities: She could see everything that a person had been through, no secrets and lies being kept from her. She gulped, the idea of so much power scared her.

"Clarke, I don't feel so sure about this. It doesn't seem right to be able to see that much about another human being." Lexa whispered while staring at her hands. "Even if it is for a good cause, no one should be subjected to that kind of invasion. At least not consciously." Lexa added when she saw Clarke glance at her own hands and realize that the words the brunette was saying could include what she did to the dead.

"What you want to do with your ability is of your own choosing Lexa." the blonde said quietly. "But you have to agree that in order for you to have a say you need to learn to control it."

Lexa nodded. "That I do understand Clarke. And please don't be upset at me." she added while grabbing the doctor's hands. "I hate it when you hate me."

Clarke's gaze softened. "I could never hate you Lex."

Lexa smiled softly. "Good, because then who will teach me all of this?" she said trying to lighten the mood.

Clarke laughed. "Now Lexa, don't distract me and focus on what I just told you to do. I want you to think clearly about my memories as being stored in a big white room. In that room you will have doors than can lead you to different parts of my mind. Once you do that, close your eyes and let go.

Lexa tried to protest. "But Clarke, I will invade your privacy and I don't feel it's right to do that."

Clarke smiled. "No you won't because I'm inviting you in Lexa. I want you to understand me, to know me deeply; all that I was before I met you and what I have done. Please, do not keep bringing up excuses where there is not a problem."

Lexa nodded, encouraged by Clarke's confidence in her abilities. She started to think about the blonde and everything that they had discussed up until now. After she felt confident,  Lexa closed her eyes and grabbed Clarke's hand, immediately feeling the pull.

When she opened her eyes again she saw that she was in a white room with a number of doors closed. Looking up, Lexa noticed Clarke standing behind her, awe in her expression. They both looked at each other, not knowing what to do or how to react because it was obvious that Lexa was more powerful than what they had believed.  The brunette quickly started to walk towards one of the doors, hesitating for a while she held the doorknob.  

"Go ahead." Clarke encouraged her softly. "I want you to know the real me Lexa. And I trust you." she added warmly.

After taking a deep breath, Lexa moved the door so it could open. When it did, the detective found herself in a big room filled with paintings. Lexa was speechless, this room had to be part of a famous museum because the work inside of it was exquisite. Even her, who was not an art fanatic, was able to realize this.

Lexa started to move around the room, trying to grasp everything that was around her. It felt very real, like she was actually standing in there and experiencing everything first-hand. .

"This is my parents house in Paris." she heard Clarke explain.

When she turned around to see her, Lexa immediately regretted choosing this door. She had been curious about Clarke's family and how she had been during her childhood. So when Clarke told her to categorize her memories, she guiltily did it based on what the blonde had told her about her time in Europe with her parents.

Lexa was going to say something to Clarke when she heard a person open the door. Right in front of her was a way younger version of Clarke, her soft green eyes staring right at her. Lexa fell awe at watching how beautiful the blonde was, and how innocent and happy her eyes looked.

"I was 18." she heard older Clarke say while coming to stand right next to her. "And I had just come back from boarding school. I remember being really excited because it had been two years since I had last seen my parents."

"Two years without seeing your parents?! How is that even possible?"Lexae exclaimed, scandalized by the thought of a person's parents leaving them alone for two whole years.

Older Clarke shrugged. "For me it was completely normal. Yes, the parents of the other kids were a little more present than mine, but still, most of the year they were all absent. I didn't expect things to be different; for parents to actually be on the lives of their children." she whispered.

When a woman fully dressed from top to bottom, in what Lexa considered to be the most expensive suit she had ever seen in her life, made her way inside she knew immediately that the woman had to be Clarke's mother.  She had recently learned was Dr. Abby Griffin, top pediatrician of the city of Boston and an ambassador of the United Nations. The words chic and sophisticated fell short to the woman, and just as they turned around, Lexa saw an excited young Clarke look up from her book and smile brightly.

"Mere!" young Clarke said while quickly running towards her mother, eyes open in expectation of a hug.

Abby raised her hand, making Clarke stop. "Ma fille, souviens de ce que je vous ai parle des mainieres?"

Young Clarke nodded. "Oui mere. Je rappeler."

Lexa started to grow impatient. "I can't understand anything."

Older Clarke looked apologetically. "Sorry Lexa, but I mostly speak French with my mother. She says that a woman that knows French can truly call herself a mademoiselle."

"I bet she says that." Lexa said sarcastically. "But since it's basically me watching your memories, I wonder if..." she closed her eyes concentrated on what Clarke knew of French.

When she opened her eyes again she found herself still in the room, older Clarke standing next to her and younger Clarke and Abby still talking.

"We were not expecting you until next week." Abby said.

Older Clarke looked at Lexa. "How did you even do that?" she asked in complete awe.

"I figured that since you know French, and I'm technically inside your brain, then that means I can also have access to that kind of knowledge."

"I wanted to surprise you both." younger Clarke said happily. "And I was so excited about seeing you both. I missed you." she whispered embarrassed.

Lexa saw Abby reach for her phone instead of responding to Clarke and this immediately made her be angry.

"You have got to be kidding me. After not seeing her daughter for two years she is reading through her messages?"

Older Clarke shrugged. "My mother has always been a complicated person, and although it took me a long time to realize it, I finally understood that we would never be able to have a mother/daughter relationship." she finished quietly. "I think the sole reason they adopted me was because they thought that they had to do their part in this world and try to make it be a better place."

Lexa looked sadly at the scene again, watching how younger Clarke was trying very hard to not cry.

"I'm sorry darling, but your surprise is unexpected, and your father and I already established some meetings and events that cannot wait." she said while moving to grab some papers and give them to Clarke. "We took the liberty to select some of the best universities in Boston so you can apply to them. Although I do not think it is necessary since it's a Griffin the person that will attend." Abby said while laughing briefly.  

Younger Clarke just nodded. "May I be excused then?"

Abby nodded, and when younger Clarke left the room Lexa was ready to take them both back, but older Clarke grabbed her hand and made them go behind her younger self, corridor by corridor becoming just a blur.

When they finally made it upstairs, they saw younger Clarke enter a room and start to cry silently. Lexa immediately went to sit right next to the young girl, who had started to hyperventilate.

"I know..." Lexa started to say while looking at younger Clarke. "That at this moment what you less feel is loved." she whispered quietly. "And that you are not special or important. But if you could only see what I see." she said while looking up to see an older Clarke staring at them with tears in her eyes. "You would see a brave and strong woman that has captured my heart and soul. Don't lose hope Clarke." she whispered to the young woman while putting her hand on her shoulder.

Lexa noticed younger Clarke somehow respond to her touch and this encouraged her to continue speaking, bearing her heart out to the woman that had obviously captured it.

"Because there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and perhaps it's selfish of me to think so, but I would like to believe that just as you were the light of my tunnel, I was the light of yours." she said while smiling. "And we will find each other." Lexa finally said while standing up and grabbing older Clarke's hand, who was looking at her with complete adoration. "We will always find each other." she whispered while kissing Older Clarke and closing her eyes, immediately feeling the familiar pull, with a bright light shinning above them and blinding them.

When Lexa opened her eyes again she felt Clarke's hands still between hers, their fingers still interwoven.  

"I felt everything." Clarke whispered while moving up to see Lexa. "I felt your touch on my shoulder, your voice a soothing and distant whisper. Now when I remember that moment, instead of feeling total sadness I feel hope, I feel cared. I can't explain it Lexa, at least not scientifically, but I felt you right there next to me." Clarke said fervently. "How is that even possible?"

Lexa just smiled softly. "I don't know Clarke, and I don't think it's something that it's meant to be explained by science. What came over me there was just pure love Clarke. I wanted you to feel comfort in knowing that someday you would have someone love you just like I do now." Lexa finally said while lowering her gaze.

She said the words, the binding words that meant that there was no going back for her. Lexa was sure she meant them, and had been willing to say them before, but had found herself scared of pushing Clarke away. But now she did the complete opposite and spilled all of her feeling into the moment. She had thrown the ball and it was now on Clarke's side of the court.

Lexa held her breath; waiting, hoping.

"I love you too, Alexandra Woods. I have been in love with you since I let you grab my hand during our first autopsy." Clarke whispered while kissing Lexa's lips reverently. "I love you, I love you Lex." she kept on saying while planting kisses on every part of the brunette's flesh. "So so much."

Lexa nodded and kissed her back, also desperate to feel the blonde's skin under her fingertips. Clarke separated from Lexa and stared deeply at her.

"I want you to take me upstairs and make love to me Alexandra Woods." she whispered. "I want to be yours."

Instead of answering, Lexa kissed Clarke passionately, lust overtaking her and desire filling her veins. Without any struggle she lifted Clarke from the floor and made her way to the master bedroom, carefully placing the blonde on the bed while laying on top of her. She gently took out her clothes, and when she was done, the only thing that she could do was stare in awe. She kissed every part of Clarke's body.

"You are so beautiful." she whispered when reaching Clarke's chest. "So so beautiful."

Clarke cried softly, the feelings too overwhelming to be held up. She had never felt so loved by someone before and this filled her up with passion and desire but at the same time deep love. She murmured and took Lexa's head, pushing it downwards to where she needed it the most.

In a matter of seconds Clarke was panting, sweat dripping through her skin and soft moans coming from both women, who were busy pleasuring each other. Lexa stopped flicking her tongue when she felt Clarke's body contract and quietly fall back to the sheets, almost limp because of the recent climax that it had just experienced.

It was a couple of minutes until Clarke felt her extremities, and without warning Lexa, the blonde quickly jumped on top of her, kissing her mouth fiercely. Lexa moaned, needing to feel Clarke on every part of her body. She couldn't wait any longer.

"Clarke, pleaseee." she asked desperately.

When Clarke complied, Lexa's head fell back to the pillows and her body started to move uncontrollably, it  desperately wanting its release. It wasn't long until the brunette felt it come, the peak of her passion reaching its collapsing point, and without decorum she let herself simply fall on the bed, a strong scream resonating through the room. Both were tired, but satiated. They had never felt such a connection before, and what they had just shared was more than just their passion, but their souls as well. They knew what this meant: It meant that the search was over and that they had found their light at the end of the tunnel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Lexa's ability now goes beyond what we previously knew. Not only can she see the memories of humans, but she can also decide which ones she wants to see. The difference here between Mephisto and Lexa is that she is scared of her power, unwilling to use it even if it is for good cause. I wanted Lexa to be like this on purpose, because power, although at first used for good reasons, can lead to bad results and greedy owners.
> 
> It was complicated to write Clarke's mom as this uncaring person in her daughter's life, and this is not going to be the last we see of her, so look forward to her making more appearances.
> 
> So they had sex, and while some may think that it's too for them to be in love, I have been arguing that Clexa's bond is stronger than a normal one. They have shared memories, their lives and hence it could be argued that their soul's connected. Cheesy but that's how I like my Clexa. 
> 
> I keep giving references to a light at the end of the tunnel, and that analogy, although I wish it were, is not mine. If you are interested about reading how lust can be seen as love and become destructive, then I recommend you to read "The Tunnel" by Ernesto Sabato, an incredible argentinian writer.


	10. Funghis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa get called to another crime scene, Clarke faces a competitor and we see a new stranger come to town.

It took some time for Clarke to wake up and realize where she was, and most importantly, who she was with: Right next to her, sleeping soundly and with an arm around her waist, she saw Lexa. The sight of her immediately made Clarke smile, memories of their last night overwhelming her instantly. She had never felt so much for another human being and that scared her. Terrified her, actually. It wasn't because she was insecure of her relationship with Lexa. It was the complete opposite. She felt so confident and sure about her feelings, in such a short amount of time, that it was making her question if something was wrong with her.

"It's too early to be thinking too much." she heard Lexa whisper.

Clarke smiled. "Good morning to you too."

Lexa kissed her softly, earning an appreciative smile from the blonde. "What were you thinking about?"

"I was thinking about us." Clarke said honestly. "And how in such a short amount of time we have become so close that the idea of not being with you hurts me."

Lexa smiled sadly while staring deeply at Clarke. "I know it is scary, but I have never been so sure about anyone in my whole life as I'm sure of you."

Clarke quickly started to kiss Lexa, on purpose making her kisses deeper and stronger.  The brunette woman was quickly becoming her biggest addiction.

Lexa was humming her contentment, letting Clarke taste and bite all that she wanted. That was, until her stomach started to make noises that were impossible to avoid. Lexa growled, frustrated by this small inconvenient.

Clarke laughed brightly, kissing Lexa one more time before standing up and bringing the brunette to the kitchen. They started to cook some breakfast, both excited about being able to share this mundane activity with each other.

 _I have never shared breakfast with someone before,_ both women thought while looking at each other, smiles plastered on their faces.

"This is really good." Lexa said while grabbing another bite of her French toast. "You cook amazingly Clarke."

"Thank you Lex. But your father better don't hear you say that." Clarke smiled while standing up and bringing the dishes to the sink and cleaning them.

"If he heard something like than then we would have to hear him complain about us not appreciating him, or how we are always so busy on the job that we forget about visiting him." Lexa said while smirking.

"Your father only does that because he loves you." Clarke said. "I wish mine would even show a small interest in my life." she added sadly.

Lexa looked up to see Clarke stare at her with sad eyes. "Well, now we can share my Pa." she proposed, relieved when she noticed Clarke's eyes lit up in happiness.

They got interrupted when the phone rang. "I bet it's probably him already wanting to know about our plans." Lexa said sarcastically.

"Instead of guessing who it is why don't you just take your phone out and answer it?" Clarke joked.

When she finally got to her phone out. Lexa's expression sombered.

"Woods."

Clarke looked up, immediately aware that it had to be dispatch or someone from the unit. Lexa nodded in answer to her unasked question.

"Yes, I'm with her." she said while staring at Clarke, mouthing the words _Kane._

"Yes, we will see you there." Lexa finished while hanging up.

She looked at Clarke and got her weapon and badge out of the drawer in which she had placed them last night. "We have another victim on BCU." Lexa said quietly.

"That's awful Lexa. I went to BCU." Clarke said while immediately getting her stuff.

Lexa started to refuse. "But you are not on call today Clarke, and Kane told me to just go check if it's related to our other murder."

Clarke refused. "I want to go with you, wherever you want to or not. Besides, if I go I can help confirm things faster and then we can both head home to enjoy the rest of our free day."

Lexa smiled at this remark. "Well, when you put it like that how can I refuse?"

CLCLCLCL

A man with a smile on his face was patiently waiting for them behind the yellow lines. When both women caught a glimpse of him they realized that all their plans were suddenly eliminated. Lexa just growled her discontent to Clarke, who was amused by the brunette's expressions.

"It's quite adorable when you do that." Clarke said while quickly looking around, and when she noticed that no one was really watching them, she gave Lexa a peck on the lips.

Lexa smiled. "Maybe I should complain more often if it gets a reaction like this one." she continued to say, suddenly halting her steps. "Oh noooo."

Clarke quickly looked to where Lexa had been staring and saw Dr. Pike already putting his stuff in front of the body.

She whispered to Lexa. "Do something before he ruins all possible traces of forensic evidence."

Lexa just looked at her. "Me?! You are the boss of him Clarke, and last time I talked to him the man he launched himself at me." she shuttered because of the memory.

"But I don't like confrontations Lexa. I don't think I can get angry or insulted enough."

"He launched himself all over me, he tried to kiss me. He even..." Lexa said while staring at her own pants and them motioning for that special area. "When I told him that I had to see you he said that he couldn't understand how I could be with you." Lexa whispered conspirationally the last part.

She felt a little guilty about that last part, specially by trying to make Clarke feel jealous. Nevertheless, for some strange reason, Lexa wanted to see Clarke fight Pike, defend herself from his insults.

 _And maybe also see her jealous again because the small glimpse that she had at the morgue had made her feel so aroused,_ Lexa thought quietly.

Clarke felt her angriness rise, which was something indeed strange. She was usually a very peaceful and calm individual. But when Lexa told her about his advances on her, or that he even tried to own her, this awakened in her very deep emotions. She was feeling angry at him, specially because it had taken Lexa and her so long to be together that to see someone else try to do the same made her explode.

Clarke quickly made her way past Lexa towards the coroner's van where Dr. Pike was gathering his belongings. He saw her approach and smirked.

"Dr. Griffin, what a surprise to see you dwelling with us commoners here in the field." he said with malice.

Clarke quickly raised her finger to tell him to shut up, which he did immediately. "I will not tolerate your rudeness and behavior any longer Dr. Pike. You are disrespectful, unprofessional and intolerable."   

Dr. Pike was speechless, not expecting at all Clarke's outburst.

"And let me tell you that if I ever see you lay one finger, or hear you comment or say any kind of thing about Detective Woods you will regret it for the rest of your professional career and life." Clarke whispered angrily. "Is that clear Dr. Pike?"

He just nodded, too terrified to say something.

Clarke nodded back. "You are excused Dr. Pike. Special Homicide will take charge of this case." she dismissed him without even glancing at him.

Lexa saw how Dr. Pike just looked one more time at Clarke before getting his things and leaving the crime scene, which made her jump with excitement.  That excitement ended when she saw Clarke walk with determination towards her.

Clarke was furious and acting based on complete instinct. She noticed Lexa staring at Pike with amusement in her eyes, and  that made her make her way towards the brunette. When she was standing in front of her,  she waited until Pike was staring at them before crashing her lips with Lexa's.

Lexa was surprised by the gesture, but nevertheless allowed Clarke to kiss her and even returned the kiss.

"I guess that's a good way of letting everyone know that we are dating." Lexa said sarcastically.

Clarke just smiled. "Only Dr. Pike. And that was for him so he can pass it along." the blonde finished while grabbing Lexa's arm and putting it next to her.

For bystanders this could be interpreted as a sign of friendship, but Lexa really knew that it was a sign of ownership. She smiled at the blonde, and after squeezing her hand in encouragement, both women made their way to where the body was.

Clarke bent down and started to look around, quickly swabbing the content of the mouth. Lexa saw with fascination how Clarke quickly got concentrated and started to analyze the place, her fingers graciously moving on top of the skin of the man. As she saw Clarke stretch herself,  Lexa noticed her skirt move a little over her knees.

Lexa held her breath, realizing what she was doing.

 _Come on Lexa, get a grip for yourself,_ she told herself while trying to focus on the fact that they were on a crime scene. _You are acting like a horny teenager._

Nevertheless, it was impossible not to because of the way Clarke's clothes seemed to wonderfully show her body. They fit her body smoothly and her button shit was tight enough on the breasts to let the world know how blessed Clarke was. Lexa salivated at the images that came to her mind; of her kissing, licking and biting those same breasts.

She was taken out of her day-dreaming when she heard Clarke call her name.

"Lexa, are you daydreaming?" Clarke told her amused.

"What? Sorry Clarke. Just got distracted." Lexa said embarrassed.

Clarke laughed quietly, having noticed how Lexa's stare lingered on her legs and breasts. "Watched something you liked Detective?" she mocked her.

Lexa opened her mouth, smiling guiltily. "Tell me about the victim."

Clarke smiled as well, but immediately started to focus on the victim. "He is in his late 30s, no apparent cause of death, smile on his face as previous victim. He died between 2 and 3am. I can't tell you how until I bring this body to the morgue and do a full autopsy." Clarke went ahead when she felt Lexa was going to speak. "But what I can tell you is that it does seem that the two murders are similar."

Lexa nodded. "Then I guess we've got another serial killer on the loose."

CLCLCLCL

When Clarke grabbed the scalpel and instantly positioned it between the man's chest, she felt herself at home. She had never felt uncomfortable with the dead before, and although that earned her some strange stares and glances from the people that were around her, the reality was that she didn't care. Clarke felt that she could give a voice to the people that had lost it; to bring peace to families that were destroyed because of tragedy, and to help people that would never judge or mock her.

The doctor felt at peace, and thinking about it, one other instance where she had suddenly discovered herself experiencing the same feeling was when she was with Lexa. The woman had changed her life completely in just a few weeks and now she was hardly capable of imagining her days without her.

 _Focus on the dead man in front of you,_ Clarke scolded herself, _stop daydreaming._

Nevertheless, as she was dissecting and taking organs out, she felt a smile plastered on her face.

"I knew you liked to dissect people Clarke, but not that much." she heard Lexa tell her.

Clarke smiled brightly but didn't turn away from the body. "What can I do for you Detective?"

Lexa smirked. "Well Doctor, maybe you can start by telling me what killed our victim."

 Clarke chuckled. "Well, as you suspected, this victim has the same injuries as the previous one, which makes me confirm that we are dealing with the same suspect."

Lexa nodded, Clarke taking it as a sign to continue. "And I also found traces of the same acid that sadly melted all of our previous victim's organs and hence our evidence."

Lexa shuddered at the memory. "But you said that the killer had sex with the victim and that's how he was able to insert the acid. And if our second victim is a guy..."

"Well, it's not impossible." Clarke said. "I found evidence of active sexual activity, of anal sexual activity."

Lexa closed her eyes. "Seriously, you had to use that word?! Couldn't you use something else?"

"What word?" Clarke asked innocently.

"You know..." Lexa said embarrassed.

"Anal?" Clarke asked amused. "I didn't know you were such a prude about these things." 

Lexa blushed deeply. "When they make me notice them then yes, I get embarrassed."

Clarke laughed, and after a pleading look from Lexa she continued explaining. "And in order to prevent this I developed an antidote, in a way, virus."

"You developed an antidote?! Clarke, that's amazing!" Lexa said while grabbing her hands and moving them around excitedly.

Clarke's smile became bigger. "And, I found some very interesting things, like the race of our creature." she said, waiting for Lexa's reaction.

"No way!" Lexa jumped.

"They are called Fugu." Clarke said while taking a book out and showing it to Lexa, a picture of a hybrid between a man and a very ugly fish in one of the pages. "These creatures are very rare, but their presence is most commonly seen in cities that are close to the sea. Also, their body fluids carry a deadly poison, that if in contact with human blood, it immediately forces a reaction; one that creates a deadly poison that leads to the death of the victim in a couple of hours. The main symptom that the victims may have are high moments of hallucination, which then lead to a shutdown of the nervous system and finally death." 

"That's awful." Lexa whispered. "To die like that."

"Well, the toxin that this creature produces is called Tetrodotoxin, which is a neurotoxin that eliminates any sense of pain and movement. When they died they didn't feel a thing." Clarke said, trying to make Lexa feel better.

"Why don't we have more deaths like these ones?" Lexa asked. "I mean, wouldn't they create fuss around the country, or the world for that matter, to find a woman who was recently killed with a creepy smile on her face disturbing?"

"As I told you Lexa, it's very rare to find victims of these creatures because they're so few of them. In fact, it has been a few centuries since the last known homicides perpetrated by a Fugu."

"Then why now? And especially after Mephisto?" Lexa said quietly. "This is too much of a coincidence. Remember that Van Helsing said that Mephisto could command and control any kind of creature? Perhaps he is trying to distract us from his real plans by having this Funghi..."

"Fugu." Clarke corrected softly.

"Fugu creature roam around the city while killing all the people that it ends up having sex with." Lexa said while looking up to see Clarke smirking at her. "What?"

"You complain when I use the word anal but then are capable of talking about a Fugu having intercourse with humans." Clarke said amused.

Lexa opened her mouth to reply, but then realized that Clarke's logic was correct. "Point taken."

Clarke took her gloves off, and after quickly making it to her office, she started to gather her stuff. Lexa followed her inside.

"Are you leaving?" Lexa asked surprised. "It's not even 5pm."

Clarke smiled. "We are leaving Detective. And don't you worry." she added when she noticed Lexa's surprised face. "I cleared it with Sergeant Kane."

Lexa smiled brightly and encircled Clarke's waist. "The things I do for you."

CLCLCLCL

Both women were panting, desperation taking its toll when Clarke struggled with finding the keys to the front door of her house. They went to dinner, a dinner full of suggestive touches that led Lexa to quickly pay the check and drive them home. The ride had been a sweet torture for the brunette, who had been teased by Clarke the whole way. A tongue licking her neck, a hand opening the button of her pants, it all led them to where they were now; making out in front of Lexa's car.

"I have been waiting since this morning to do this." Lexa purred. "When you yelled at Dr. Pike I was so turned on." she emphasized with a movement of her hips.  

Clarke yelped and quickly kissed Lexa's neck. "As I told him, you are mine Lexa. Only mine."

Lexa nodded, and almost running she took both of them them to the front gate, not breaking the kiss or contact with Clarke's skin.

Clarke was struggling with finding the keys, and after a couple of minutes and frustrating groans from Lexa, she finally unlocked the door and both women made it in.

Lexa was panting, already too turned on to stop, and from what she could hear, Clarke was feeling the exact same thing.

"God, I love you so much." Clarke said while biting Lexa's lip.

Lexa smiled and kissed Clarke. "I love you more." she said while turning them around the living room, on the way taking their jacket and shoes off. She noticed Clarke look at the mess, and before the blonde could complain about it, Lexa ran and grabbed her from behind.

Clarke instantly forgot about the clothes and ran her tongue over Lexa's, the two of them enjoying their closeness and the taste of each others' lips. After minutes of just kissing they both knew what they needed. Walking blindly around the house, with the both of them laughing and smirking at each other, they made their way to Clarke's room.

 Lexa was suddenly pressed to the back of Clarke's door room, Clarke groaning at the feeling of dominance of doing such a thing. She heard the brunette moan as she felt her self-control shutter. Clarke took a deep breath, and when she noticed how ready Lexa was, she opened the door and pushed the brunette inside while turning the light on. What she saw made her become speechless.

Lexa noticed the way Clarke's eyes opened up in shock, and without thinking about it she took her gun out, pointing it at the woman that had made Clarke become pale. And Lexa recognized her as well.

_Holy shit..._

"This is a rather unexpected surprise." Abby Griffin said while looking at both of them disapprovingly. "And not the sight I was expecting to see from my daughter."

"Mother..." Clarke whispered.


	11. Banshee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa learn more about the Fugu while Clarke has a surprise visit from a familiar face. Another victim is uncovered.

Lexa instantly stood in front of Clarke, her desire to protect the blonde from her mother overwhelming her senses. She could easily feel how tense and uncomfortable Clarke was by the way she was holding her breath, trying to control her nerves and fear. She hated to see Clarke this vulnerable.

"You must be Clarke's mother." Lexa said while going forward, noticing that Clarke was refusing to let go of her hand.

The woman just looked at her and quickly scoffed at the hand Lexa had extended to her. "If you don't mind, I would like to talk to my daughter."

Lexa stayed put, wanting to show Clarke that she would stand by her side no matter what. Clarke's mom did not like this.

"Besides from poor, are you also deaf? I said that I wanted to speak to my daughter."

"Besides from rich, are you also a witch?" Lexa retorted while smirking at the woman, knowing that her rhyme had been better. She was so close to saying 'bitch' but refrained to do so for Clarke's sake. She saw Clarke's mom look angrily at her daughter.

"Of all the possible prospects that you could obtain, you decide to engage in a relationship with a low-life blue collar dyke?"

Clarke snapped out of it when she heard her mother's insult.

Before Lexa had a chance to answer back she felt her hand being squeezed by Clarke, letting her know that she could handle this. Lexa nodded and stayed quiet.

"You will restrain yourself from talking, insulting or degrading Lexa right now." Clarke whispered angrily. "She is caring, respectful, loving, brave, and all the good things that a person can try to be." she continued while grabbing the brunette's hand. "And I'm lucky enough to be the person that she has chosen to be with."

Abby was ready to retort but Clarke didn't let her.

"And you have no right enter my home without my permission, disrupt my life after all this time and expect me to follow every rule and demand you make. I am no longer 18 years old." Clarke said angrily while going towards the door and opening it. "I'm sure that you can walk yourself out."

"Clarke Griffin, you have no authority to..."

"No!" Clarke screamed, making Lexa bolt up.

She had never seen Clarke be so angry before.

"You are the one that has no authority to come uninvited to my house, insult my girlfriend and then expect me to still be polite. You will leave the spare key that I gave you on the table that is right next to the front door"

"You are going to make a very big mistake Clarke." Abby tried again. "I came to talk to you about something truly important."

"Really?" Clarke said sarcastically. "I was under the impression that you came here to criticize my life and the people in it. Now, please leave."

"This is not over." Abby said while getting her purse and stopping in front of Lexa. "And you better stay away from my daughter or I will have to write a very compelling letter to the Boston Police Department."

"You don't intimidate me Mrs. Griffin." Lexa said seriously. "And your daughter is very capable of making her own decisions, and as long as she wants me to; I'll stay by her side."

"We'll see." Abby muttered and then turned to look at Clarke. "Your father would be disappointed."

"I'm already used to being the disappointment of my parents." Clarke said coldly. "Now leave."

Clarke just felt her body tense, and after watching her mother leave, her legs gave up. If Lexa wouldn't have caught her, then she would have sported some awful bruises to work for sure. Without knowing why, she started to cry, that encounter with her mother forcing her to remember that feeling of desolation and unfulfilment that came each time they saw each other. Nevertheless, this time she had Lexa by her side, and when she felt the brunette kissing her temple and forehead sweetly, she looked up at her.

"I'm sorry for putting you in such a tough spot there Clarke." Lexa whispered quietly. "I understand if you would prefer for me to leave."

"I couldn't stay quiet and let her say all of those awful things to you. And I'm sorry that it took me so long to react." she whispered while kissing Lexa's lips.

Lexa smiled sadly. "And I'm proud of you for standing up to your mother in order to defend me."

Clarke smiled softly. "You have made me be stronger and more confident about myself and my feelings, Lexa. And I don't regret it." she added when she saw how Lexa was looking at her. "Not one bit."

CLCLCLCL

They were all meeting at the morgue, apparently Clarke had made a discovery on the body of the man, and by discovery she meant that she had used her ability to see what had happened to him before he died. Thanks to the antidote Clarke was capable of preventing the body from suddenly decomposing, unlike the first victim, and use it to gather more leads.

Wanting to give the Unit answers as soon as possible, Clarke had invited them all to witness the 'retrieval of the memories' as she liked to say sometimes. Lexa was going inside the memory with her, the practice becoming a normality between the two of them. They both smiled at each other before closing their eyes and feeling the pull combined with the sudden darkness.

Soon enough Lexa and Clarke were walking around the park, one that was probably 15 minutes away from BCU. They suddenly felt themselves become aroused and Lexa immediately blushed, not liking at all what she was feeling. It was as if she was turned on but she didn't understand why, nor did she feel connected to the sensation.

"It's not you." she heard Clarke explain through the fog. "We are feeling the arousal that the victim felt."

Lexa nodded, and without trying to interfere, she let herself be led to the forest, right away noticing a figure appear. It was wearing a mask, which meant that they wouldn't see the face of the killer. Nevertheless, instead of running, the man instantly walked towards it.

"He never had a chance." Lexa said sadly while feeling herself take off her pants.

Clarke nodded while doing the same. "The arousal was too strong, and as you can see, the victim just went straight to craving his needs."

Both froze when they felt a sting, and mere seconds later they both were flying, too overwhelmed by the feelings of the man.

"This must be the hallucinogen." Clarke said with a shiver in her voice. "It will be a couple of seconds until the venom fills the veins of the victim and the convulsions start."

"I think they already have." Lexa said while holding her hand, which started to move uncontrollably.

Both women opened their eyes to find themselves back at the morgue, being watched by Kane and Anya with a hint of curiosity and concern. Lexa and Clarke straightened themselves up, and after taking some breaths, the detective shuttered and focused on the body again.

"He never saw it coming. He was too aroused and inhibited to fight back." Lexa said quietly. "And the creature was wearing a mask." she added angrily.

"Shit, so dead end there." Kane said just as upset. "Are you sure we are dealing with a Fugus doctor?"

Clarke nodded. "Now that I've experienced it, I can confirm without a doubt that it's a very old and controlled Fugus."

"Which makes things more difficult for us." Anya said angrily.

"What do you mean?" Lexa asked.

"Having an older Fugus means that they are most probably not in the system, like no bank accounts, no property, no official records, nothing that can tie them to society." Anya explained.

"Which makes them hard, if not impossible, to find." Lexa finished for her.

Kane nodded. "The only thing that we can do now is wait for it to make a mistake."

Clarke looked at their expressions of defeat and she was going to add something when she got interrupted by her senior criminalist Raven Reyes.  

"Dr. Griffin, there's a woman outside wanting to talk with you. She said that she's your mother."  Raven told her confused.

Clarke flinched, and after getting the surprised look of all the detectives she nodded in acceptance. "Tell her to wait for me outside."

"Will do doc." Raven promised and left the room.

Lexa approached Clarke, and after telling Kane and Anya that she would meet them later, she accompanied the blonde doctor to her office and closed the doors and blinds.

Clarke collapsed on her seat, defeat and sadness in her eyes.

"You don't have to see her if you don't want to." Lexa said. "No judgment."

Clarke looked up and smiled sadly. "She is my mother Lexa."

"She sure doesn't act like it." Lexa added quietly.

Clarke chuckled bitterly. "She never has. Not that I'm aware off."

Lexa walked until she could stand next to Clarke and cupped her cheeks. "Do not let her make you feel guilty, or unwanted or unimportant. Sadly for her, she still doesn't realize that she has such a great and beautiful daughter."

Clarke smiled and kissed Lexa's lips. "Thank you."

Lexa nodded and stood up. "I'll be here waiting for you Clarke."

Clarke nodded, and after also standing they both went to opposite sides of the room. Lexa to take the elevator that would lead her back to homicide and Clarke to open the door that would take her to the waiting room of the morgue. They smiled at each other, and with one last look at Lexa, Clarke took a deep breath before opening the door.

Her mother was quietly looking outside the window, deep in thought, and for once not caring about keeping her usual tough and powerful persona up. Clarke smiled sadly, and while making her way further inside the room she noticed her mother turn around and face her.

"Clarke." Abby said while standing up. "Thank you for talking to me."

"Of course mother." Clarke said coldly. "What can I do for you?"

Abby nodded. "I came to talk to you..."

"Mother, I don't really want to hear anything else you have to say. I thought I made myself clear yesterday night."

"Clarke, you don't realize the mistake you are making by staying here in Boston. You are wasting your life and potential by surrounding yourself with..." Abby started to say.

"With hard-working and dedicated people that risk their lives to save others?" Clarke asked angrily.

"You are a Griffin! You could do whatever you want, be with whoever you want to, and instead of doing that you choose to live a mediocre life."

Clarke flinched at this comment. "It makes me so sad to see that you think that my accomplishments and my life are mediocre, but I realized a long time ago that I was never going to be able to make you happy. By trying to do so,  I was only making myself miserable."

Abby tried to reason with her daughter. "It didn't seem that way. You enjoyed the parties, the people, the cultures and the society."

"I enjoyed being with my mother." Clarke said somberly. "And if being in your company meant that I had to go to a party then I was more than happy to do so."

"I will not let you throw away your life Clarke. I came here to bring some sense into you and make you realize that Boston is not for you." Abby said firmly while grabbing her purse and taking a ticket out of it. "This plane will leave in two days, first class, everything paid. I expect you to be on it."

Clarke laughed bitterly. "Seriously mother? You expect me to just accept this and go to wherever you want to?" she tore the ticket to pieces. "I guess there's your answer."

Abby got up from the seat, and instead of anger there was sorrow in her eyes. "Clarke, please, do this for me. I need you to be on that plane."

Clarke faltered a little because of her mother's tone, but she was well aware of how she could manipulate people. "This is my life, I chose it, and I intend on staying here. I'm sorry I was never the daughter you wanted me to be." she finished while opening the door and heading out, leaving Abby standing alone in the room.

CLCLCLCL

It had been two days since she spoke with her mother, and after crying herself to sleep with Lexa laying next to her, Clarke finally felt herself at peace. She noticed that Lexa was sleeping soundly, and after brushing her curly hair, she kissed her lips softly.

Lexa smiled.

"Good morning Dr. Griffin." she said while looking up. "How are you feeling?"

Clarke smiled softly. "Sad."

Lexa kissed her again. "I'm sorry Clarke."

"It's not your fault, or even mine, that my mother is the way she is." she whispered. "And I have spent my whole life trying  to make her be proud of me. Now it's my time to be happy."

Lexa nodded. "You deserve to be happy Clarke. You are a wonderful human being that deserves so much more than what you were given."

Clarke smiled. "How do you know what to say?"

Lexa looked at Clarke with questioning eyes.

"How do you always know what I need to hear?" Clarke rephrased her question.

"I don't." Lexa said while lacing her fingers with Clarke. "I'm always scared of saying something wrong, something that will make you realize that you have made a mistake and that I'm not worth all the trouble."

"Lexa, you were not responsible for the discussion my mother and I had. What you were was the final straw drawn out, and the most important one. You see, I have always aimed to please, and now that I am with you I have become a little selfish. I want to be with you, and enjoy all the benefits of that, which I guess makes me a little self-centered."

Lexa smiled. "And no one is stopping you."

Clarke purred while kissing Lexa deeply, making her moan. "Let anyone try."

Both of them started moving around the bed, quietly kissing and teasing each other. Clarke was enjoying herself too much, but craving more, she started to move her hand downwards, making Lexa's hips cant forward.

Lexa in return kissed her neck and started to suck deeply.

Clarke moaned.

"Lexa, don't leave me a mark." she managed to whisper.

Lexa nodded softly while looking at the blonde's neck, realizing that it was too late. She shrugged and instead kissed Clarke's mouth again.  The blonde would get upset with her later, but now she was going to enjoy her company fully. Or, so she thought until they heard their phones ring.

Lexa groaned, making Clarke laugh deeply.

"Woods." Lexa answered.

"Griffin." Clarke said while looking at Lexa and kissing her hand softly.

 _'We got another one.'_ Kane said at the other end of the line. _'It's in Jamaica Pond.'_

Both women looked up surprised. 'That's just minutes away from where I live.'

 _'We got briefed because the victim has the same symptoms from our other two victims.'_ Kane said somberly. _'You would be the first ones of our team to arrive at the scene.'_

Lexa nodded while Clarke left the room to get herself ready.

"I will let you know what I see and I will go with Dr. Griffin and the body to the morgue." she finished  talking and then went to get ready as well.

As soon as both of them were in the car, they drove to the crime scene in a comfortable and welcoming silence. Both women were trying to think about their life and the revelations that they've had during their previous night.

Clarke was thinking about her mother and the disappointment she always seemed to have for her and the choices she has taken. Clarke never understood why, or what she could do, in order to make her mother proud. But after many years of struggling and jumping from event to event, man to man, and finally from country to country; Clarke realized that her mother would never truly be happy with her. And she knew that it was now time to stop her attempts at making her proud and just be happy for her own self. This is what finally made Clarke leave Paris and her family's fortune behind. One day she decided to just grab her things, get on a plane and then apply for a job in the States. Based on her expertise and curriculum, she got contacted by many police departments, but for some reason she decided to choose Boston. Most probably because she remembered many childhoods spent in Boston and how wonderful the city was, the way people enjoyed life and the many wonderful places it had. In Boston she could have a clean start, no one knowing her and valuing her for her own achievements and not just her family name. Then Boston PD hired her, and after keeping her ability a secret for a while, she was contacted by Sergeant Detective Kane, who offered an extra-curricular job inside the Boston PD under a branch called Special Homicide Unit. What had made Clarke accept his offer was that he knew of her ability and promised her that there were others like her trying to make the world a better place. Clarke, ecstatic at the opportunity of working with people that had abilities just like she did, accepted the job immediately.

"Clarke." she heard Lexa say while stopping the car. "We are here."

Clarke nodded and, after taking a deep breath, she went out of the car and headed straight for the yellow lines. From what she could see, Lexa was a few steps ahead of her, walking decidedly and in full control.

Clarke smiled warmly, and realized how brave and dedicated Lexa was, how determined she could be in order to find the truth. Maybe that was what attracted her to the brunette the first time they met, that sense of duty. She kept on walking, and when she saw Lexa's frozen expression she stopped herself.

Lexa heard her coming, and immediately she went to stand in front of the blonde, that way using her body to block her view of the corpse.

"Clarke, darling." Lexa started to say quietly and with tears in her eyes. "You do not want to see this."

Clarke froze with this comment, and more specifically by Lexa's tears. "Lexa, who is the victim?" Clarke started to ask while pushing the brunette away.

Lexa tried to hold Clarke and keep her in place, but the blonde was able to move past her. When she finally broke free and took a look at the corpse, she screamed. In front of her, with her eyes fully open and staring blankly at them was Abby Griffin.

Clarke felt her legs wobble, and immediately she felt her body fall to the ground. Lexa saw Clarke falling and she quickly placed her arms so the blonde could grab on to her. As soon as the two were connected Lexa pulled Clarke towards her chest. She felt the blonde shaking, and when she tried to comfort her with a kiss Clarke separated from her.

Lexa just looked up sadly at Clarke, who was taking deep breaths while trying her best to contain her tears.

"I'm the medical examiner, let me through." Clarke said while shaking. She took one last breath before bending down in front of her mother's body.

Clarke heard steps coming from behind her, and without looking up, she noticed Lexa's boots.

"Victim is in mid 50s. Smile on her face, and based on body temperature, I would say that it has been probably two hours since she was... killed." Clarke whispered the last part. "Based on preliminary analysis, I can conclude that this crime is similar in nature and method to our two previous murders."

Lexa nodded. "Clarke..."

"Don't." Clarke whispered angrily. "I know what you will tell me, but I have to do this. For my mother."

Lexa just stayed quiet and watched Clarke get in the coroners van, her eyes filled with sadness and desolation. She looked around the scene, and angrily she kicked one of the fences.

Lexa needed to clear her head, and although she didn't like Abby, it made her feel sick to have seen her in such after meeting her less than a week ago. This was not a coincidence, and that scared her too. The creature responsible for this murder was making things personal by killing the mother of the Medical Examiner. Lexa knew that they had to put a stop to this, but how? The only lead that they had was the species of the creature; and although Clarke had tried to enter the memories of its victims, the creature seemed to know about this and decided to cover its face with a mask.

Just noticing that during her anger she had moved away from the police trail, Lexa felt a shadow looming around her. She looked around her, knowing that her instincts never lied to her, and after a sudden chill Lexa noticed a figure appear from behind the trees. Lexa took her gun out.

"Boston PD! Identify yourself!" she screamed while aiming her gun at the figure, which walked forward.

"Well, who would you like me to be Detective Woods?" the figure answered while switching forms. One minute she saw her father, who then became Anya and finally stayed as Clarke. "I can be whomever you want me to be." it kept saying but with Clarke's voice.

"I swear that if you keep doing that I will shoot you no questions asked or answered." Lexa screamed while taking the safety off. "And I keep my promises."

The figure smiled for a bit and then changed to become Abby Griffin. "I knew that you were stubborn, and rude, but it seems that you're also very protective of my daughter."

"Abby Griffin is dead." Lexa said while looking at her surroundings, trying to find any traces of civilization. "Her body is being taken to the morgue by her daughter."

This made Abby flinch. "I know, and I hated to do that to her, but I had to protect her."

This made Lexa lower her gun slightly. "Protect her from what?"

"There has been this whisper around us, this bounty set for the blood of my daughter and yours, Detective Woods." she whispered.

"What are you?" Lexa whispered while looking at the woman become a shadow again, her gaze staring down and watching what Lexa saw.

"I guess you would call me a ghost." Abby said while looking at her hands.

"How?" Lexa whispered.

"I went to see Clarke because her life is in danger. Ever since she was a child, I knew that she was special, although I never really knew how special until many years later. When we adopted her, we were told to protect her and that she was far too precious for her own good. When Clarke started to succeed in her intellectual and cultural endeavors', I thought that was what the person that gave her to us meant. Nevertheless, the threats against her life started to come, people close to us were disappearing, and this made my husband and I realize that the only way to keep Clark safe was to move her around the world. We knew it was going to be painful to her, but you have to understand how much we loved her, how much we cared." Abby said sadly.

"That's why you sent her to all those boarding schools." Lexa realized.

Abby nodded. "I never stopped caring about  her, or watching over her. Not when she decided to leave the house and come here to Boston. When years went by and there were no longer any threats, I thought that the worse was finally over. But that was until I heard her name being called yet again a couple of weeks ago. I had to come see her, to ask her to leave, although I knew that I had to do it without revealing myself to her."

"Why keep all of this from her? She had a right to know!" Lexa said sadly.

Abby looked sadly at her. "Because when we got Clarke we made a promise to not interfere in her life directly. This means that I was not allowed to tell her about my ability or what I knew without paying the consequences, which were that Clarke would be taken away from us."

"That's a very lame excuse." Lexa said angrily.

"Not to a Banshee." Abby said sadly. "Being able to see who lives or dies is something that is not taken very delicately in our world Detective Woods. One con of my ability is knowing about the possibility of someone dying and not being able to stop it."

Lexa was speechless for a while. "So when you talked to Clarke last Friday..."

"I knew that I was going to die two days later." Abby said quietly. "And I knew that the creature responsible for my murder was going to be the same one you are trying to find."  

"This is not fair." Lexa whispered but Abby heard her.

"Life is not fair Detective Woods, but we do what we must to survive. Your suspicions are right, these different creatures that are now causing havoc are being controlled by a stronger one, one that is asking for the blood of you two. I wasn't capable of save her, but maybe you will. Save Clarke." Abby pleaded while her shadow became foggier. "Tell her that I'm sorry for everything and that I loved her so much."

Lexa nodded softly while feeling tears pour from her eyes. Just as fast as Abby's shadow had appeared in front of her it turned to complete dust. Lexa just stood there, staring at what had been Abby Griffin and thinking of what she would say to Clarke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Abby is a Banshee, and just like she told Lexa, they are capable of seeing who will live or die. They reside in the underworld, which is how she heard the whispers of Mephisto asking the different creatures to kill Lexa and Clarke (remember that Clarke said that abilities didn't differentiate between humans or creatures; but merely how they chose to live after getting them).
> 
> Abby told Lexa that Clarke was given to them by a strange person that claimed she was special. By special, Abby thought that they meant Clarke's intelligence, but what the stranger meant was her ability, an ability that Abby never realized Clarke had until Mephisto became interested in her. 
> 
> The reason Abby is capable of appearing in front of Lexa is because of Lexa's ability and how she seems to be more influenced by the abilities of others and her surroundings. I guess one could say that she is more in "tune".
> 
> Abby thought that the only way to keep Clarke safe was by keeping her away from Boston. So when she saw her being attached to Lexa she knew that she had to end their relationship in order to have a chance at making Clarke leave.


	12. Redemption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa talks with Anya, Clarke must face her fears and Abby redeems herself in the eyes of her daughter.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Anya was screaming at her while also checking her for any injuries. "We have been calling you for the last hour!"

Lexa just huffed, still too shocked to realize what her disappearance had meant for her team.

"I'm not fucking joking here! We are partners Lexa!" Anya said outloud.

This made Lexa feel guilty. "I'm sorry Anya, I didn't mean to scare you or the rest of the team, but it wasn't my fault. I need to talk to Clarke." she added while moving away, being instantly stopped by Anya.

"What happened? As soon as I get here I find that Dr. Griffin, the body and you are gone from the scene. Care to explain?" the younger brunette said sarcastically.

"The victim was Clarke's mother, Abigail Griffin." Lexa whispered.

This made Anya instantly flinch. "Poor Dr. Griffin. The shock."

"Yeah, especially after having a fight hours before she died." Lexa said angrily. "And I failed to protect her from the pain." she whispered.  "I let her look at the body, process it and leave with it to the morgue. What kind of a person am I?" Lexa choked while lowering her gaze.

She instantly felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Anya looking at her while smiling softly.  She knew.

"The kind of person that knows Dr. Griffin and what she needed to do."  

"You know." Lexa simply stated.

"It's been obvious. Since the moment you two met it's been clear that you were attracted to each other."

"It's more than that."

"I know."

"And Kane?"

"He has his suspicions, but he won't say anything unless your relationship affects your professional life."

"And how do you know that?" Lexa asked.

"Because I'm also seeing someone from the department and Kane knows." Anya blushed.

"He caught you." Lexa chuckled.

"Yeah." the younger brunette said embarrassed. "Made me promise to do those things outside the station and then congratulated me."

"I wanna know who it is now." Lexa smirked.

"Remember that woman that works with Dr. Griffin, the senior criminologist?"

"The sassy brunette?" Lexa asked while laughing.

"Raven." Anya confirmed. "She's really nice."

"Good for you Anya." Lexa said sincerely. "I'm happy for you."

"Thanks Lexa." Anya said softly. "Now call your woman because she was asking for you and I had to tell her that I didn't know where you were."

"Fuck Anya, why didn't you tell me that sooner. Her mother just died and now she must be thinking that something happened to me." Lexa huffed angrily while taking her phone out.

"I didn't know her mother died and then we got distracted." Anya apologized.

Lexa just ignored her and muttered 'asshole' before hearing Clark's voice.

 _'Dr.Griffin_.' she answered absently.

"Clarke, it's me." Lexa said softly.

 _'Oh my God Lexa!_ ' she heard relief in Clarke's voice. _'Anya told me that you disappeared from the scene and that they couldn't reach your phone. I have been so scared since then.'_ she heard the blonde's voice break down.

Lexa immediately felt bad about not being there. _'_ "I'm ok darling, and I'm sorry for not being right next to you, but I will be on my way. We need to talk." 

Clarke nodded. 'Ok Lexa, I just got started on the autopsy.' she whispered the last part. 'I _don't know if I can do this Lex. I thought I could, but now I'm not so sure.'_

Lexa was making her way to the car with Anya following her closely behind. "You are stronger than what you think Clarke. I know that, the unit knows that, and... your mother knew that." she whispered the last part.

Clarke shivered at that comment. _'You don't know that Lexa. I lived with her during half of my life and I always felt that she believed the complete opposite_.'

"Trust me darling, it wasn't like that." Lexa said quietly."And I will explain everything as soon as I get there."

CLCLCLCL

Clarke nodded before hanging the phone and taking a look at the person that used to be her mother. She felt tears pouring out of her eyes and soon again she started sobbing. It had been awful to be in the coroner's van and hear the medics talk about her mother like she was an object that didn't mean anything. It had been more painful to take her to the autopsy room and lay her there, destroying the decorum and composure that she had seen her mother keep during her living moments. And, she was sure that it was going to be excruciating to touch her and see what she saw and feel what she felt before she died.

Clarke wasn't strong enough for this, and although she tried to pretend in front of Lexa that it was alright, it had all been a big lie. Making things worse had been to receive a call, right before she started the autopsy, from Anya asking her about Lexa's whereabouts. When she told her that Lexa never made it back to headquarters, Clarke felt her heart collapse yet again after having experienced too much sorrow in just a couple of hours. Was it fair? No, it wasn't, and that led her to angrily ask herself why was all of this happening to her.  What crime or punishment could she possibly be paying?

Nevertheless, Lexa's call had calmed her down, and now that the detective was on her way, she felt a little bit of self-control come back. She took a deep breath and started to look at her mother's body.

No signs of struggle and the rigor mortis was starting to leave the body. She had some kind of kind of small incisions on her ear. _Possibly taser marks,_ Clarke thought suddenly, immediately Mephisto popping into her mind. This wasn't a coincidence, and although it hurt to admit it, it was some good news for their case.

"Clarke." she heard Lexa say while feeling herself being enwrapped by strong arms. "I'm sorry." she felt kisses on her temple.

Clarke just whimpered and hugged Lexa back, her walls collapsing right in front of Anya and Sergeant Kane. She would have usually hated to show so much emotion in front of them but she needed to fell Lexa comfort her.

"I thought I could do this, stay objective and do my job, but every time I look down I see her staring at me, judging me." she whimpered. "I know it's impossible Lexa, but I feel like my mother is still judging my every action. I feel guilty."

Lexa immediately made Clarke look at her. "This is not your fault Clarke. You are not responsible for this. The creature that did this to your mother is the guilty one Clarke, and trust me, I will find it and make it pay. I promise you." Lexa finished fiercely.

Clarke saw Lexa's determination and how much she meant those words. "I believe you Lexa."

Lexa smiled. "And I will need help from the best, which is you Clark."

Clarke nodded, and after apologizing to Anya and Sergeant Kane she made them approach the body.

"Based on my preliminary examination I can say that the Fugus was responsible for the murder of the victim." Clarke whispered. "And I also found taser marks on the back of her neck."

All the detectives looked up, Lexa approaching while grabbing a glove. "Taser mark?"

"Yes, and it matches the ones from the murders of Mephisto." Clarke said while pointing at the mark.

"So then Mephisto and Fugus were responsible for killing the victim?" Anya asked carefully.

"It appears like that." Clarke said. "Both injuries, the one on the neck and the sexual assault, were almost made at the same time."

Kane stepped forward. "This doesn't make sense. Why would Mephisto risk to show his involvement in this murder. What is so special about the victim?" he immediately looked at Clarke. "I apologize for my crudeness Dr. Griffin."

"Don't apologize detective, and I understand your point." Clarke said quietly.

 "I think I can answer your question Kane." Lexa said quietly. "And it has to do with my brief disappearance." the brunette started to move around the room, grabbing her hands as a sign of nervousness. "I talked with Abigail." Lexa blurted out.

Everyone looked up at her, Clarke closing her eyes while grabbing the autopsy table tightly. "Lexa, I do not understand what you are trying to do with this, but I do not find it funny."

Lexa immediately went to face Clarke. "And I'm not doing this on purpose Clarke, but I swear that's what happened. I talked with your mother." Lexa moved away and faced them all. "I was walking down the forest, thinking about the case and suddenly a shadow appeared. It was switching between the people I knew until it stayed like you Clarke." Lexa explained while staring at the blonde deeply. "It talked like you, moved like you but it wasn't you. And it told me 'I knew that you were stubborn, but it seems that you are also very protective of my daughter.'" Lexa finished while looking at Clarke.  

"Maybe you thought it was Mrs. Griffin." Anya started to say.

"No." Lexa interrupted her. "It was her. And she told me that she was a banshee."

This made all of them look at Lexa with surprise.

"Banshee's can only communicate, if death already, only with people that have a deep connection to the underworld." Kane said while staring at Lexa with surprise.

Lexa nodded. "I discovered a few weeks ago, in New York with Clarke, that I have an ability."

Kane and Anya looked deeply surprised, the latter one speaking. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Lexa was going to speak but Clarke spoke for her. "Because she has a very powerful ability, that if known by the enemy, could make things dangerous  for Lexa. She has the ability of replication."

Lexa saw how the two detectives were staring at her with deep surprise, and even a small hint of fear, as if realizing that Lexa was far more powerful than all of them together. This made Lexa get angry.

"I'm still the same person you knew before, and because of this reaction I was afraid of telling you." she said exasperated.

"Sorry Lexa, but what you are telling us is not something to be taken lightly." Kane said upset. "This changes the way we have been managing the Mephisto and Fugus cases."

"Why does it change? Because now I can be used as a weapon of attack?" Lexa asked angrily.

"You know that's not what I meant."

"No, what you meant was that there could be the possibility, and I'm also aware of that. I'm aware of what I could do with this power but I'm also afraid of it. I'm afraid of becoming something like Mephisto; a creature blinded by power and desperate enough to kill everyone that stands in the way."

"Lexa..." Clarke started to say while approaching the brunette, who saw this and calmed herself down.

"It was wrong of me to keep this from you, and the sole reason I was doing it was because I was training with Clarke so I could control it." Lexa said while looking at Anya and Kane. "And after we solve Abigail's murder I will explain everything, but right now we need to talk about the things she told me."

They all nodded and started to return to their places, Clarke deciding to stay near Lexa and grab her hand. This made Lexa smile a little bit and continue.

"She told me that there was a whisper in the underworld, of someone wanting to get Clarke and I." Lexa whispered. "And that the Fugus was responsible for killing her. She knew." she added quietly while looking at Clarke. "She knew she was going to die."

Clarke gulped and nodded. "Banshees have the gift of knowing who will live or die, but the curse of not being able to directly interfere with the life of the person that is going to perish."

"It's very unusual to find Banshees in our world." Kane said. "They usually prefer to stay in the underworld because it's too painful for them to establish relationships with humans."

Lexa saw how Clarke was struggling to hold her self-control. "If she is from the underworld, would she be controlled by Mephisto?"

"You mean if humans with abilities that come from the underworld have free will?" Anya asked surprised.

Clarke looked up at Lexa and understood what she was trying to say. "Because of what we read on the Van Helsing book?"

Lexa nodded. "Think about it. We have creatures that are old and have been unheard off suddenly popping up on every part of the city and committing terrible and noticeable murders. Yes, they are smart about hiding their traces, but why start killing now unless they are being told to by a more powerful being?"

"I guess it makes sense." Kane said.

"You told me that the difference between creatures and humans was that the first ones chose to use their abilities to kill, and that the second ones chose to live a peaceful life." Lexa said while staring at Clarke. "So then not all humans that have abilities from the underworld are necessarily evil?"

Clarke nodded. "Technically that's true. The Chicondria usually creates the ability based on the necessity of the human, and in the case of my mother, the ability of a Banshee would have been inherited. The Banshees come from deep Irish roots."

"But Dr. Griffin is not Irish." Anya said.

"No, but my father's last name is." Clarke said while quickly going to get the folder where all of Abby's information was. "And she took my father's last name and made it her own." she said while looking at all of them.

"So your father is from Ireland?" Anya asked surprised.  

Clarke looked down, embarrassed. "I don't know detective, my parents and I were never that close. I'm afraid I don't know much about their life."

Lexa looked angrily at Anya, who embarrassedly looked down.

"But how does that connect him to your mother?" the younger detective still asked.

"Apart from the fact that they were married?" Lexa asked sarcastically. "Your father must have known that your mother was a Banshee." she addressed this to Clarke.

"I would believe so." Clarke admitted. "My father and I were very close until he had to leave our house. I haven't seen him since then."

"And you didn't find this strange?" Kane asked her.

"My mother told me that he went away with the University to South America, to build machines and goods for poor countries. That was always a hobby of him. After that, I came to Boston and I never stayed in contact with my parents." Clarke explained.

"So that means that your father may be unaware of your mother's death." Anya said.

"He's gonna find out soon because we must release the information." Kane said apologetically. "You could try calling him before that happens."

"He won't answer." Clarke said dejectedly. "We may have better luck contacting him through the family attorney."

"But what will we tell him?" Lexa had to ask.

"A story that does not involve supernatural creatures. Once your father returns to Boston we will interrogate him and be honest with him about our leads." Kane explained to them their game plan. "Meanwhile, we must assume that because your mother was from the underworld Mephisto could control her."

"I thought so too, but then look at the taser marks on her neck. Why else would Mephisto be involved in another normal crime unless it wanted to teach a lesson to the rest of creatures?"

"So you believe Mrs. Griffin was killed because she refused to obey Mephisto?"

"It makes sense." Lexa said strongly. "Because she came here to get Clarke away from here, to keep her safe. Mephisto probably found out about this."

"So by tasing her, he was telling other creatures 'You betray me you will end up dead'?" Anya asked while glancing at Clarke, who started to cry softly.

"Guys." Lexa said firmly while showing them to the door, both of them understanding that what the brunette had to say next was meant for Clarke only."Can you please go upstairs and start researching about Clarke's father connection to creatures with abilities?"

They nodded and quickly left, on the way saying some comfort words to Clarke, who barely managed to smile at them before letting herself be held by Lexa.

"I have been thinking lately about my ability." Lexa started to say while taking Clarke to her office. "And how I am always able to go inside a person's mind and see their memories." she saw Clarke look intently at her. "And that made me ask myself: If I can see whatever I want, could I make another person see what I want?" Lexa added while concentrating on her encounter with Abby and trying to make the memory expand, as if it was leaving her mind and instead going towards her hands.

Clarke started to close her eyes and immediately felt a pull take her away from the morgue. When she opened them again she saw herself in a room filled with light, Lexa standing in the middle of it and staring at her with love and devotion. She kept on walking to where Lexa was pointing her to go, which was a single brown door. She hesitated.

"I will be right here waiting for you." Lexa said while grabbing Clarke's hand and squeezing it tightly.

Clarke nodded and opened the door, finding herself on a forest. She saw herself and heard the words Lexa told her the shadow spoke.

_"I swear that if you keep doing that I will shoot you no questions asked or answered."Clarke heard herself scream while taking the safety of the gun that she had on her hands off. "And I keep my promises."_

Clarke noticed the shadow switching forms again and finally becoming her mother.

 _"I knew that you were stubborn, and rude, but it seems that you are also very protective of my daughter_."

 _"Abigail Griffin is dead."_ Clarke said while looking at her surroundings, trying to find any trace of civilization _. "Her body is being taken to the morgue by her daughter."_ she gulped when she realized the sorrow that Lexa felt because of this fact.

Apparently her mother flinched after this remark as well _. "I know, and I hated to do that to her, but I had to protect her."_

This made Clarke look instantly at her _. "Protect her from what?_  

 _"There has been this whisper around us, this quest for the blood of my daughter and yours, Detective Woods"_ she whispered.

 _"What are you?"_ Clarke whispered, sadness overwhelming her senses and making her ask dumb questions. **_Although it's actually Lexa the one doing the questioning_** _,_ Clarke thought and chuckled a little.

 _"I went to see Clarke because her life was in danger. Ever since she was a child, I knew that she was special, although I never really knew how. When we adopted her, we were told to protect her and that she was far too precious for her own good. When Clarke started to succeed in her intellectual and cultural endeavors, I thought that was what the person that gave her to us meant."_ Abby's shadow said and Clarke didn't hear the rest because she could sense the love in what her mother was saying.

Clarke felt herself crying, her anger towards her mother increasing every second. "Why did you keep all of this from me?" she screamed. " I had a right to know!" Clarke said while hitting the concrete floor.

Her mother looked sadly at her. "Because when we got you we made the promise of not interfering with your life directly. This means that I was not allowed to tell you about my ability or what I knew about it without paying the consequences, which were that you would be taken away from us. I couldn't allow that to happen my darling."

Clarke froze and immediately she saw her mother smiling sadly at her. "You can talk to me?  How?"

"You always had this ability inside of you. How do you think Detective Woods was capable of acquiring it? It was through absorbing yours and then pushing it to the limit when that specter was causing you pain." Abby explained sadly.  

Clarke was speechless for a while. "So when you talked to me on friday..."

"I knew that no matter what I was going to die." Abby confessed quietly.

"This is all my fault. If I would have only listened to you." Clarke whispered.

"This was not your fault, and it pains me that you had to find the truth this way. I never meant to cause you any pain, and I think that I was never any good at showing you how proud I was of you. I wasn't able to save you, but maybe you, with the help of Detective Woods, will save yourself. One wrong thing to do is to underestimate you Clarke. You are stronger than what you think." Abby said while her shadow was becoming foggier. "Mephisto is very strong Clarke, and he is recruiting more creatures from the underworld. I'm afraid that by challenging him, I gave him the opportunity to scare the other humans and creatures that were desperately trying to not do his command."

"So you have free will?" Clarke asked.

"In a certain level we do." Abby said quietly. "Until a supreme creature decides to use its power to control us, then I'm afraid we do not have another choice but to obey."

"But you didn't and instead came to warn us. How is that possible?"

Abby smiled sadly. "Because I love you Clarke, and my only goal in life has been to protect you. Evilness can be stopped, by love, and sadly most creatures from the underworld have never felt or been in love. That's why they are so easy to control. I was one of the lucky few. You brought light into my life Clarke, and I thank you deeply for that."

"Please don't go." Clarke whispered while her mother smiled back. "I always loved you and I always will."

Abby smiled softly and stretched her hand, barely touching it with Clarke's. "And I will always love you too. Find your father, tell him I love him and that I'm sorry. He can help you" she finally said, her shadow becoming pure dust.

Clarke collapsed on the floor, and after a few seconds she felt strong arms encircle her. She let herself be carried to the couch on her office.

"My mother saved my life." she choked out when she felt soft hands separating her hair. "My mother got killed because she tried to save my life."

Lexa just hugged Clarke, whispering words of love and what she hoped were understanding.  After what felt like hours Clarke calmed herself down, quickly getting up and staring at Lexa with determination.

Lexa smiled sadly.

"I talked with my mother." Clarke said quietly.

Lexa looked surprised at her. "How?"

"She told me that replication does not mean creation but faster dominance and control of the abilities you absorb. I always had the power to talk to the people in memories." Clarke said fiercely. "But until now I never really had a very strong reason to use it."

Lexa nodded. "You are so strong and brave Clarke. Tell me what to do in order to help you and I'll do it."

"Go and do what you do better than anyone I know. Find the bastard who did this." Clarke said fiercely. 


	13. She Walks in Beauty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexa has a talk with Gustus, Clarke things about her mother and the two of them discover a new lead on Mephisto's case.

Lexa was not going to lie: She was scared for the first time in her life. But ironically, not for her own safety but for Clarke's. She hated to think about it, but danger was getting closer to them and each new lead that they found led to more questions and mysteries. After talking to Clarke, she had expected to be called or asked by the blonde woman to stay the night or just be there for moral support, but here she was at her own place with a beer in her hand and questions unanswered on her mind. She kinda wished Clarke had called her, had asked for her help or presence; but she understood that what Clarke probably needed and craved the most was some alone time. Some time to grieve and to try to make some sense of all the things she had been through during the last couple of weeks. They were overwhelming enough for Lexa, so she could only imagine how Clarke could get out of bed and do her job.

 _Probably that is what made me fall for her,_ Lexa thought while smiling softly, because she knew that it was pointless to deny it: she had fallen in love of Clarke a long time ago.

It took some time until she noticed that someone was frantically knocking her door, and after taking her second gun out of the drawer, Lexa stood up and checked through the doorknob before opening. Outside was her father, looking exhausted but other than that well. He made her move aside and immediately he sat down on the couch.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit father?" Lexa asked sarcastically.

"Only way one can see you now." Gustus said with a hint of resentment that Lexa noticed. "Ever since you took that job in the Special Homicide Unit I barely see you Lexie. We are worried about you. I knew it was a bad idea for you to become a cop. And Lincoln wants to be just like you."

Lexa flinched a little. "Well, that's his choice, and right now I don't have the time or the patience for this Pa."

"You never have the time Lexa. I would like to see my daughter and spend time with her." Gustus said while getting up and looking around the place.

Lexa noticed. "Don't even think about fixing something right now."

"Someone has to do it." he said absently while getting some tools and the Windex from the cleaning cabinet. "This is the same Windex we bought you last year!"

Lexa smiled softly. "Maybe I just liked it and bought a new one."

"We both know that's not true." Gustus smiled. "I'm surprised you think this place is presentable enough for visits."

"Visits?"

"I'm not a fool Lexa, and I know what young couples like to do." he said with a smirk on his face. "And it's completely normal."

Lexa closed her eyes. "Pa, the last thing I want to do now, or ever, is talk to you about intimate things that involve my girlfriend." she finished while looking down.

Gustus noticed this and immediately went to sit close to her daughter and hugged her. "Did you two have a fight?"

"No Pa, it's something else."

"You can tell me anything Lexie, you know that." Gustus said encouragedly. "I know that I will never be capable of replacing your mother..."

"You've been more than enough." Lexa said firmly. "Indra lost the right to call us her children the moment she decided to abandon us."

"She had her reasons." Gustus whispered.

"Reasons that you won't share. Which makes me suspect that you're just trying to be nice about it because you still care about her."

"She's your mother Lexa." Gustus muttered. "I will always care."

"And that's your decision and I respect it. But don't you dare ask of me to do the same thing. She doesn't deserve it."

"You're a grown-up capable of making her own decisions Lexa. I can no longer ask you to do what I want. But this anger that you're now directing at me is not only for talking about her, is it?" he asked knowingly.

Lexa knew that she had to share what she was feeling because it was killing her. Although she worried about her father's gossipy nature, she knew the man loved her and that he always meant well.

Better him than Anya or Kane for that matter.

"Clarke and I were called earlier to a crime scene." Lexa started to tell while sinking down on the couch. "And the victim was Clarke's mother." she just spitted out.

Gustus closed his eyes. "Poor Clarke, I can only imagine the pain."

Lexa nodded, feeling tears in her eyes. "It was awful Pa. There we were, looking down at her mother, whom we had seen three days ago, the life sucked out of her. I wasn't there for Clarke. I could have forced her to leave, I could have protected her from the pain of watching her mother like that. But I didn't." she managed to choke out. "I didn't and I failed her Pa. And right now here I am sitting in my couch doing nothing while Clarke is all alone at her house. What kind of horrible person am I?"

"Alexandria Woods, you are a wonderful person with a wonderful soul. Yes, sometimes you're not the most heartwarming individual and other times you're just plain rude, but when you care about someone you stand by them. And it's clear that you care about Clarke."

"It's more than that. I love Clarke." Lexa whimpered. "But when I need to show her how I feel I never do it."

Gustus hugged Lexa. "For starters, one shows love and care by being with the person they love. Why didn't you stay or bring her here?"

"Because she didn't ask me Pa. Clarke sometimes likes her solitude, her independence, and I respect that. But today I was expecting her to tell me something, to ask me to be there because she needed me." Lexa said exasperated. "Maybe she is not as invested as I am in this relationship."

Gustus made her daughter look at her. "Don't fill your mind with assumptions. Your pride is making you say all of these things so that you don't face the truth." he said firmly while focusing on Lexa's eyes. "You feel hurt and rejected."

"Such a sweet-talker ahh." Lexa said sarcastically while whipping her tears.

"I know sweetie, but that's why I'm here." Gustus replied while waiting for Lexa to continue. "But there is more, isn't it?"

"Wait, how do you..." Lexa asked surprised.

"A  parent always knows."

Lexa laughed a little. "Or maybe someone did their homework. Who spilled?"

Gustus had the decency to blush. "I may have heard something from Lincoln."

She had talked to Lincoln earlier, and based on what her father was telling her, Lexa had not been good enough at hiding her feelings during that short phone talk.

_(Flashback)_

'We are stuck Lincoln and that sucks.' Lexa said angrily.

 _'I know. We heard the news about Clarke's mom.'_ he said quietly. _'How is she?'_

'How do you think she is? She just saw her mother's corpse and is preparing to do her fucking autopsy.' Lexa snapped. 'Sorry Lincoln.'

 _'I understand Lexie."_ she heard him say. _'But prepare her for when you get to the station. People are talking.'_

'I bet they're some sick jokes about Clarke's mom and her being the Queen of the Dead.'

 _'Something like that.'_ he confirmed _. 'But they are all jerks.'_ he added. _'Is there something I can do?'_

Lexa was going to dismiss his help but then she remembered something. 'Actually there is.'

_'Name it.'_

'I need you to find something for me, an old book that Indra used to read for us before we went to bed.'

 _'The one with the stories of the families of Boston?'_ he asked surprised.

'Yes. And it's very important.'

( _End of Flashback)_

He had been at her place one hour later, with the book in a bag that looked to be decades old. Lexa opened it and took the book out, smiling at the memories. She had thanked him, and after drinking a beer and a quick catching up talk he had left, only to then be invaded by her mother.

"Even now it seems that Lincoln is incapable of keeping things from you." Lexa said while smiling.

"It wasn't his fault. I was at home when he went to get the book." he confessed while going to the kitchen and getting the book from where Lexa had left it. "I remember those long nights when you practically begged your mother to read at you all of these stories."

Lexa smiled at the memory.

"She was very proud of being a descendant of the first immigrants that made it to Boston." Gustus recalled. "Always kept telling me that there was pride in the Woods bloodline, and that in her veins, and her kids veins, there was the blood of the builders of Boston."

"I remember she hated the people of Beacon Hill so much." Lexa laughed. "Because they liked to brag that they came from the Mayflower and colonized Boston."

Gustus laughed. "That's true.  Indra and her temper." he whispered the last part.

Lexa looked up sadly at her father. "I'm sorry I made you remember about her. And I'm sorry for what I said earlier, but I still believe that she doesn't deserve your love and loyalty."

"Don't Lexa, because I don't regret the time we spent together, the years and the things we built together. I still love her you know. I love the woman she was when we met and the mother she was with you and your brother. I guess life changed her and her dreams." Gustus choked out. "But she was a very good woman Lexie. Remember her as that."

Lexa nodded, feeling the tears falling again. "I'm proud of you Pa."

Gustus smiled and cried softly for a while, enveloping Lexa in a long embrace. He was not accustomed to Lexa showing that much emotion and care, and he smiled softly by knowing that this sudden change in his daughter had occurred because of Clarke Griffin, which made him feel even more sorry for the blonde. 

"You should get going." Gustus said while making his daughter stand up from the couch. "There is another person waiting for you." he smiled.

CLCLCLCL

Clarke was silently looking outside window, her computer on her desk opened with the latest results from the exams that she asked to be performed on her  mother; although now she barely had the mind to process or interpret them. She thought that the worst had ended, but she was mistaken. The worst was finishing the autopsy and coming back to an empty house. The silence and solitude allowed her to think, and the only things that were on her mind were the sight of her mother and what she had told her.

Clarke was angry at her for all the lies and secrets. She felt betrayed and heartbroken because she now knew that the relationship with her mother had been doomed from the start. She felt sad that her mother had loved her but still had never capable of showing her. She felt guilty because she knew it was bad to keep this much hatred inside. She felt alone because she had expected Lexa to follow and comfort her; instead she was being received by coldness and emptiness. 

She had heard the rumors, the whispers and felt the stares of the cops the moment she arrived to the Boston PD station. When news spread about her relationship with the victim, Clarke had been ordered to go talk to Lieutenant Jaha, who had suggested to her to spend some time away; in order to grieve. She refused of course, her thirst for revenge and closure too strong. Nevertheless, when she made her way outside she knew that they were calling her by her nickname, Queen of the Dead.

 _Too cold and heartless that she was even doing her own mother's autopsy_ , Clarke flinched at that remark.

But still, was it true that she didn't care? That she didn't feel any empathy? Clarke felt all of her old doubts, the ones that had been covered by Lexa's love, return and reconsume all of her.

 _You are like me,_ she heard Mephisto's voice haunting her, taunting her to admit what some part of her already suspected was true. She closed her eyes.

 _Maybe I really am like..._ she stopped when the noise outside her door became too much.

Clarke got up from the couch and quickly went to the kitchen to get a knife,  her security instincts kicking in. Slowly, she made her way towards the door, and after taking a deep breath she opened it.

"Clarke." Lexa said while going inside without another word and hugging her.

Clarke threw the knife to the floor and immediately returned the hug. "Lex, what are you doing here?"

"I know that what you may probably want right now is some alone time, especially after all of this, and I have tried to give you space, but I just can't be alone anymore. I need to be with you." Lexa admitted.

When Clarke didn't react she felt her heart sink, and quietly apologizing she started to make her way towards the door, only to be stopped by Clarke who had hugged her from behind.  

"I wanted you to come." Clarke whispered. "The moment we left headquarters."

"Why didn't you ask me?"

"Because I didn't want to impose or demand you to come. I have always been used to getting through things on my own." Clarke confessed quietly.

Lexa turned around and kissed her lips softly. "You don't have to that anymore Clarke. I will always be here for you."

Clarke smiled softly before remembering everything that had been on her mind. "Oh Lexa." she clutched to the brunette while crying. "It was awful, so awful."

Lexa just patted Clarke's back, knowing that she wasn't done. "I feel sad, and angry, and dirty and guilty. And, an..." she kept on rambling. "There is so much doubt, so much fear."

Lexa nodded while kissing Clarke's forehead.

This made Clarke continue. "They were talking about me Lexa. How I was capable of doing my mother's autopsy and not feel anything. They called me heartless." Clarke cried the last part.

Lexa looked at the ceiling, trying  her hardest to control her anger and not storm out of the house and head for the Boston PD where she knew she would find some of the people responsible for making Clarke feel this way.

"And perhaps they are right Lexa. Perhaps I am cold and heartless. I mean, who can do what I just did to my own mother." Clarke finished hysterically. "Maybe I am a monster."

" _She walks in beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies._ " Clarke heard Lexa whisper softly.

 _"And_ _all that’s best of dark and bright meet in her aspect and her eyes_." Lexa continued while making her way towards Clarke. " _Thus mellowed to that tender light which heaven to gaudy day denies_."

Lexa smiled softly, silently thanking her literature professor from 9th grade and his insistence of remembering the works of the great poet Lord Byron. Lexa had memorized the thing to make the grade, and she had never fully understood what the poem meant, never actually really cared about understanding it. But now it made her think of Clarke and how she felt about Clarke, which finally made the poem have sense.

" _One shade the more, one ray the less. Had half impaired the nameless grace_." she continued while grabbing Clarke's hands and kissing them reverently. _"Which waves in every raven tress, or softly lightens o’er her face._ "

Clarke smiled sadly, too shocked by Lexa's gesture but nevertheless feeling the love that came from her words and how she meant each one of them. She continued to stare in complete awe.

 _"Where thoughts serenely sweet express, how pure, how dear their dwelling-place."_ Lexa said dramatically while putting a hand on her head, making a soft laugh from Clarke echo the room.

 _"And on that cheek, and o’er that brow."_ she next went to plant sweet kisses on the blonde's cheeks and a small peck on her mouth. _"So soft, so calm, yet eloquent."_ she continued while making Clarke move in circles and making her laugh even more.

Lexa smiled brightly.

 _"The smiles that win, the tints that glow, but tell of days in goodness spent."_ she said while using her fingers to feel Clarke's smile dimples, the blonde lowering her head and staring deeply at  her.

 _"A mind at peace with all below, a heart whose love is innocent!"_ she finished while making returning Clarke's stare. "A heart as innocent and sweet as yours Clarke."

"Lord Byron." Clarke whispered while kissing Lexa's lips reverently.

Lexa smiled and kissed Clarke back. "I should recite Lord Byron more often to you if I'm going to get a reaction like this."

Clarke laughed a little. "I didn't know you were familiar with his work. He is one of my favorite poets."

Lexa smiled proudly. "You should then thank Mr. O'Hare and his insistence of teaching us the great value of poems." she then looked seriously at Clarke. "Every word I said I meant it. Before, I never really understood the poem. I just memorized it and got told what I should feel while reading or reciting it. Now Clarke I feel like every word was about you and how you make me feel so complete. So loved and in love." Lexa whispered embarrassed. "I will admit that at first I thought that didn't feel the same way I feel."

Clarke was ready to scold her but Lexa raised her hands. "Not that you didn't feel anything, but that I felt more for you than you for me. And I was hurt, and sad and so selfish Clarke." Lexa apologized again. "I wasn't there for you when you needed me."

"No Lexa." Clarke whispered while taking her hands. "It is always the opposite. You always seem to be there when I need you, a constant reminder of how I can love and be loved. You do so much for me." Clarke choked out while hugging Lexa. "That it's impossible for me to imagine my life without you."

Lexa smiled while hugging the life out of Clarke. "Good, because I don't plan on going anywhere." she said while lifting the blonde off the floor and heading with her towards the master bedroom.

Clarke let herself be carried to the bedroom where Lexa placed her.

"Shoot, I forgot something." Lexa said while quickly running downstairs. In a few seconds she made it back and placed a very old bag on the floor.

Clarke looked curiously at the bag. "What is in the bag?"

Lexa smiled and took the book out of the bag. "When I was a child." she started to say. "I always begged my mom to read me stories from this book. About the Woods' and how they made their way from Egypt to Boston and worked on building the city. We always did this during the night, and Lincoln would sneak to room and come listen to the stories as well. It was our ritual." Lexa whispered sadly.

Clarke had always been curious about Lexa's mother and why she had never met her. She had assumed she had divorced Gustus, but she had always expected her to visit Lexa or even call her.

"My mom left my dad and us a few years ago." Lexa continued. "She just one day decided that she was tired of living as a wife and mother and went to Florida."

Clarke took Lexa's hand. "I'm so sorry Lex."

Lexa nodded. "I idolized her Clarke. She was my hero and I looked up to her so much, but when she did that to my father and us I knew that I would never forgive her. Lincoln feels the same." she tried to give the blonde a good smile. "Nevertheless." she continued. "I wanted to read it to you."

"Is this because of the discussion we had the other day?" Clarke asked sarcastically.

2 days ago they had been asked to consult on the murder of a wealthy patron that had been a relative of a member of the Mayflower. Lexa had been a little rude with the family of the victim, and when Clarke said that the people from the Mayflower were the builders of Boston, Lexa had passionately discussed the thing with her.

"Maybeeee." Lexa said while opening the book, her gaze stopping at a page and then refocusing on it. "What the hell?"

Clarke looked up at Lexa, who was reading from the book. "What is wrong?"

Lexa finished reading and looked as if she had seen a ghost. She gave the book to Clarke and pointed towards a line where she had started reading.

_"One of the most elusive and reclusive families were the O Griobhtha (or the Griffin like), who came from Ireland and settled way before the cities started to invite foreigners to work. No one is certain of how they arrived to Boston, but many speak of the O Griobhtha family possessing supernatural allies that helped them in any kind of matters. This supernatural allies can influence other humans into doing their will and in doing so they managed to keep their actions hidden from the rest of normal citizens. Some even say that the O Griobhtha's are protected, and hunted at the same time, by these creatures, one creature being the monster called Mephistopheles. Mephistopheles came from the O Griobhtha's family, and after being damned by his relatives because of his sins, he made a deal with the devil that made him become his second in command and live until eternity."_


	14. Trip to North End and South Boston

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa find some new leads for the Griffin case, Lexa discovers a secret her parents hid from her and the two women are sent to a trap.

"Anything on Jake Griffin's location?" Lexa asked while sitting at her desk, earning some curious glances from Anya and Kane. "What?"

"His attorney said that he was informed of the situation and that arrangements would be made." Kane informed them.

"What?" Lexa asked completely shocked. "So he's not coming? His wife just died for Christ's sake." she said exasperated.

"We don't know until they call us back."

"Can't believe Clarke came from a family like that." the brunette muttered. She noticed the two detectives staring questioningly at her. "Spill it out!"

"How is the Doc?" Anya asked quietly.

"How do you think she is? She discovered her mother's body, did an autopsy on it and is now probably the target of a dangerous serial killer that we can't catch." Lexa said sarcastically.

The two detectives flinched at this comment and Lexa's gaze softened. "Sorry guys."

"We care about her as well." Kane said while going to stand next to Lexa and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You are all family. And family protects family."

Lexa smiled softly at this remark and turned around to look at the board where they had set a timeline that connected Mephisto's and Fugus' crimes. "We must be missing something. There is a connection here."

"Apart from the fact that Mephisto is this mythological creature that can rule over the creatures of the underworld and hence control the Fugus?" Anya asked sarcastically.

Lexa had called them after discussing her findings with Clarke the previous night, expecting them to just discard it as hocus pocus. Nevertheless, the opposite happened and now they were even accepting the theory of Mephisto being related to the Griffins, that being the main reason why Abby was a target.

"Yes. I mean, why Abby? Why Clarke and why me? Why now?" Lexa asked exasperated.

"In mob families things are always hierarchical." Kane said while grabbing a book from his drawer. "So maybe Abigail Griffin was in the highest seats of the family?"

"Abby Griffin a member of a mob family?" Lexa asked surprised. "I would have laughed at that remark a few days ago but today I feel like speculating a little more."

"Yeah, I mean think about it Lexa. Mephisto wants to have revenge on the Griffin family and Abby is a member of it. Also, by killing her he is hurting Clarke, and by hurting the Doc he is also hurting you. It all works in his favor." Anya said.

"I know this will sound ridiculous, but bear with me." Lexa said while closing her eyes. "Remember that in the movie Van Helsing the family that was responsible for the capture and ultimate death of Dracula were seen as the guardians of humanity? What if the Griffins have been trying for many generations to keep Mephisto away from gaining control?"

Lexa was expecting to hear them laugh at her remark but instead they were deep in thought.

"It's not the first time I have heard of something like this. In fact, during medieval times many noble families were ordered with the task of protecting their villages from the evil creatures that roamed around the earth." Kane said.

"So maybe the Griffins have been around trying to stop Mephisto from becoming more powerful and that's why he is so desperate in destroying them all?" Anya asked while looking at Lexa.

"I'm not so sure guys, but the fact that the Griffin family is involved is obvious. Learning about the extent of their involvement is primordial to solving this case; our only connection between this murder and Mephisto being Clarke. We are not going to get much from the forensic evidence, merely what we already know. I also know that what Abby told me meant something, I just don't understand what." Lexa said while angrily kicking her desk. "This is so frustrating." she suddenly stood up and headed out.

Mumbling angrily she kept on walking until she found herself at the elevator, heading to the familiar comfort of cold rooms and a very bright woman. She wasn't thinking, and thinking that Clarke was busy she was going to just head back up, but she heard a voice that stopped her.

"Lexa." Clarke said while looking up and seeing the brunette hesitate between staying or leaving. "Is everything alright?"

Lexa smiled softly. "I should be the one asking you that question Clarke."

"It would actually help me if we talked about your problems instead of mine." Clarke said while smiling softly. "As a distraction." she added.

"I'm trying to find sense in the connection between the Griffins and Mephisto. I know  that the book says that Mephisto is part of the Griffin family." Lexa said absently. "But I don't understand what's that got to do with the murder of your mother and why now." Lexa said frustrated.

"I know you've had some theories in mind. Do they seem plausible?" Clarke asked while sitting down at one of the couches, motioning for Lexa to do the same.

"I really don't know Clarke. I mean, they sound silly to me, like taken out of a story from Bram Stoker, but then it turns out that they may not be that ridiculous. I have even been thinking that the Griffins are like some kind of protectors of humanity." Lexa said after seeing that Clarke wasn't getting it. "But if I don't talk to someone from the family, an elder that remembers the different histories, then there is no way for me to confirm that this is even true."

"Give me the book." Clarke said to Lexa while grabbing the object from her hands. "I remember seeing the name of the author on the back." she added while reading quietly and quite fast.

"You can read fast?" Lexa asked surprised.

Clarke smiled softly. "It's very easy once you get used to it. The author of the book is a woman named Carlota Florenci."

Lexa smiled brightly. "Finally a lead that can actually help us in trying to solve this." she said while going to one of the computers on the lab and typing the name. "Well, this is easy." she said while motioning for Clarke to get closer. "She lives in North End. Wanna make a trip and get some good lasagna?" Lexa said smirking. "And no telling Pa about this."

"But your family came from Egypt." Clarke said confused. "Why would he be upset if his lasagna is not as good as an authentic one?"

"Cause Pa is insane." Lexa muttered. "And because he believes he can do anything, even cook lasagna better than Italians." she turned towards Clarke. "So unless you want to eat lasagna every day until he believes you truly think his lasagna is the best one you've had, you won't tell him about this little trip, got it?"

Clarke smiled and stood up. "I guess some lasagna won't hurt."

CLCLCLCL

Lexa and Clarke were making their way inside a very old and decayed building. The drive to the North End had been uneventful and filled with light talk from both women, who were now deep in thought trying to understand the clues laid to them.

"I used to come to the North End with my parents every week." Lexa said while moving around the building and looking at the numbers. "I remember I used to have such a wonderful time eating and just walking around the street watching my Pa fight with the Italians while my mom talked to some of her war friends."

Clarke smiled. "Your mother was in the war?"

"Yeah, she went to Vietnam although she never saw action." Lexa said absently. "I think that is what motivated me to have some kind of work that had to do with law enforcement."

"I think I always knew that I wanted to be  doctor." Clarke said while walking closely to Lexa. "I was a weird kid and I had a fascination for the truth and finding answers. After finishing my rotations I realized that my awkwardness and sometimes coldness was a gift that many did not have. I realized that I could do some good by helping the ones that could not speak anymore."

Lexa smiled and took Clarke's hand. "Just because you are not scared of death that does not make you cold. Maybe a little weird, but never cold."

Clarke smiled and squeezed Lexa's hand as a sign of contentment. She stopped in front of a door. "Lexa, this is the apartment." she said while pointing to a door with the number 112.

Lexa made Clarke stand behind her and quickly took her gun out. "Miss Florenci, could you open the door? Boston PD."

They heard some movement from behind the door, and after a few seconds they were met by a small woman who had red lips and the biggest glasses that they had ever seen.

"Well what do you know! It's Detective Woods and Dr. Griffin." she said happily.

Both women looked surprised, Clarke was the first one to speak. "How do you know us?"

The woman just ignored her. "Please, do come in. I will answer all of your questions to the best of my abilities."

Lexa was a little hesitant about going inside, especially after the fact that the woman seemed to have been expecting them. She didn't like this at all.

"I don't bite Detective, and I promise that I'm all alone."

Lexa nodded and made her way inside, motioning for Clarke to follow. After inspecting every room and being satisfied that the old woman was telling the truth she sat down on what seemed to be a couch.

Clarke flinched a little at the dirtiness of the place, but years of etiquette classes made it impossible for her to complain.

"Want some tea?" the woman asked them while moving to the kitchen.

"No thank you." Lexa said a little impatiently. "We would like some answers."

"We read the book you wrote about the first families of Boston." Clarke explained. "About how some had members that did not want to adapt to the new life and hence became creatures."

The woman looked up when Clarke used the term. This woman just confirmed to her that she knew about the existence of abilities.

"So tell me, what kind of ability do you have?" Clarke asked firmly. "Because I'm sure you have one. In order to understand this world you need to be a part of it."

The woman nodded. "I have the ability of sight."

"So you are a Banshee." Lexa said.

"No, a Banshee is forbidden from telling the person affected what she can see. I am not, which makes my sight abilities be more focused on the past." the woman said. "And I'm sorry about your mother Miss Griffin."

Clarke flinched a little but still mumbled her thanks. "I never knew she was a part of this world."

"She was a Griffin. One of the most important ones in the organization."

"And why is that?" Lexa asked.

"Because she was wife of Jake Griffin." the woman said while getting up and moving to the kitchen where she poured herself a cup of tea.

"Do you know where Jake Griffin is?"

The woman laughed. "No one knows where Jake Griffin is. That is like asking me where the creature Mephistopheles is."

"How old is my... Jake Griffin?" Clarke asked suddenly.

"Very old." the woman answered, suspecting Clarke had already figured things out.

"Why does that even matter?" Lexa asked frustrated.

"Because Jake Griffin is the brother of Mephistopheles." Clarke said sadly. M _aking the creature_ _my uncle,_ she thought.

The woman nodded. "Yes, it was Jake Griffin the one that made the promise of killing Mephistopheles, afterwards basically cursing his whole lineage."

Lexa looked up to the woman after this comment. "You seem to take it very personally. What is your relationship to Jake Griffin?"

"For a while I was with Jake Griffin." she said quietly. "That's how I knew Abigail was a part of the family."

"You were his mistress then?" Lexa pushed for clarification. 

"You could say that." the woman replied tersely while watching Clarke's reaction. 

"Did my mother know?" the blonde whispered. 

"The moment she found out was the moment she forbade your father from seeing you. She took you with her to Europe."

"And he went to South America to help countries in need." Clarke repeated her mother's lie bitterly, angry at her parents for deceiving her. 

"Can you really blame her for wanting to leave?" Lexa understood clearly what Abby could have been feeling. Her Pa had been in the same spot. 

"I blame him for cheating on her and placing her in that situation." she then stared at the old woman. "Do you know then who gave me to Abby?" Clarke whispered.

"I'm afraid not." she said while meeting Clarke's gaze. "But the day you came into Abby's life that was the day she left the organization and traveled to Europe. Never saw her again after that."

"When did you leave Jake?" Clarke continued to ask.

"When he became obsessed with killing Mephistopheles and almost got himself and the whole lineage killed in the process. I could never be with a person that has so little self-regard for their safety." the woman said while looking at the Detective and Doctor. "Which I know is what worries you two the most."

Lexa looked up, completely surprised by that remakr. "What do you mean by that?"

"Each one of you worries about the dangers that you think you are getting the other one involved into by being in a relationship." the woman simply explained. "Which I think is plain dumb."

"How do you even know this?" Clarke asked surprised, not caring about denying what she had said.

"Because the meeting between the two of you was not mere luck. It was predestined." the woman smiled softly. "The two of you were meant to find each other. I have seen your auras and I know that you two have helped each other grow in the development of your abilities."

Lexa nodded and couldn't stop herself from smiling warmly at Clarke, taking her hand softly.

"But just as I know that you've been predestined to be together, it also means that others know and fear this union." the woman whispered.

"Mephisto." Lexa said quietly.

The woman nodded.

"But I'm not a Griffin. Just because I was adopted by one that does not make me a blood relative." Clarke said while looking at the woman for confirmation. When she was met by a cold stare she suspected the worst.

"What are you not telling me?" Clarke whispered.

The woman flinched. "There was another woman before me, who was also in a relationship with Jake. He never talked about her but I knew he never got over her. He left her when his father, who was alive and the leader of the family during that time, threatened to kill her and their little daughter."

Lexa saw Clarke hold her breath and immediately she gave the blonde's hand a good squeeze.

"After that we never heard about them again and Jake never mentioned them."

"But you suspect I am that baby." Clarke said with anger.

"I've had my suspicions for a while, and based on the way Mephistopheles is chasing you, I think it makes sense." the woman said while focusing on the blonde. "Children that are born from old humans with abilities have deeper abilities that can expand."

"My mother told me that." Clarke said sadly. "She told me that I could expand my ability to its limits once I learned how to trigger that expansion."

The woman nodded. "Only children of old humans can do that." she then looked at Lexa. "Which I bet makes you wonder how you also have the ability of replication."

Lexa nodded. "I know my heritage. I know I come from an old Egyptian immigrant family that came to Boston to work on the city."

The woman smiled sadly. "Are you sure that is your real story?"

Lexa faltered. "What do you mean if I'm sure? Of course I am." she said angrily. "My pop and Ma told me the story. How we settled here, my dad working as a plumber and my mother going to war."

"But have you seen pictures of this?"

Lexa's smile fell. She knew there weren't many pictures of her as a child and she had never minded. Her parents had told her that it was because she didn't like her picture taken and she had believed them. She felt like such an idiot.

"It's not my place to reveal the truth to you if your parents are still alive." the woman said while standing up. "But once you ask them you are welcome to come back."

Clarke took Lexa's hand and kissed it softly, making the brunette react and give her a sad smile. "Before we go, do you know where we could find a place with Griffin relatives?"

"There has been this rumor going around." the woman said quietly. "About a service in honor of Abigail taking place today in the old cementery of South Boston." she added while showing Lexa and Clarke to the door. "You may still catch it if you go now." she pushed them outside. "But be ready cause they are not so friendly towards cops." she finished while pointing at Lexa's badge and closing the door, leaving both women in a state of shock.   

CLCLCLCL

Clarke wanted to say something to Lexa. She knew how the brunette must have been feeling, herself having experienced that disappointment when her mother told her that she was adopted.

The two women had been shocked after their talk with Carlota, but instead of talking about it with each other they quickly got inside the car and made their way towards South Boston, hoping to find members of the Griffin, and now Clarke's, family.

"Lexa." Clarke said quietly while looking at the brunette who was gripping the steering wheel too tightly. "Please, talk to me."

Lexa softened her gaze. "I don't know what to say Clarke. I just got told that my whole life may have probably been a lie."

"Maybe the events did not occur as you were told they did, but the love and happiness that you've felt were all real Lex. You had a good childhood, with a sibling and present parents that could share it with you." Clarke said sadly. "I wish I had been that lucky."

Lexa immediately understood what Clarke meant and felt bad about being upset. "I'm so selfish Clarke and I'm sorry. You also got some difficult news from the woman and here I am only thinking about my problems."

Clarke smiled sadly. "I think this is the least of my problems." the blonde said sarcastically. "The smallest in a pile of things that I have managed to uncover during the last couple of weeks."

"Was that sarcasm Dr. Griffin?" Lexa smirked.

"Using irony to convey contempt?"

"You just can't stop, can you?" Lexa smiled and poked Clarke on her side, making her laugh. "I love your laugh." the brunette said suddenly. "During this last couple of weeks I haven't heard it so much." she then looked at Clarke and smiled. "When I do hear it, and I know it has to do with something that I have done, it makes me so happy."

Clarke stared at her and smiled. "You make me happy. Your company, your friendship, your support, your love. I don't think I would be capable of being here if it wasn't for you Lex."

Lexa was going to answer her when she suddenly stopped the car, making Clarke a signal to lower her head. "Clarke, stay here and call Kane. Tell him we that need backup and ambulances. Lots of them."

Clarke was going to ask to Lexa why they needed to do that when she heard the sound of guns fill the streets. Lexa lowered herself and took her own gun out, using the front door of the car as cover and looking around for any sight of the shooter.

"Could it be a sniper?" Clarke asked scared. "Kane, we need a team to come to the old cementery of South Boston, and an ambulance." the blonde hung up and then looked at Lexa. "The team is on their way."

"I don't know Clarke, but I think their main target was the cementery. Someone spilled on the Griffin family being here."

Clarke froze. "What do you mean?"

"That's why I stopped the car before we got inside. I think someone targeted the family."

"Mephisto." Clarke whispered. "It was him."

Lexa nodded. "That's what I suspect as well." she stopped talking when she heard more shotguns being fired. "I feel so helpless." she whispered. "Here I am hiding behind my car while someone or something is shooting all those people."

Clarke looked at Lexa. "You tried to move and someone shot at you. That does not make you a coward. And you are protecting me."

Lexa looked fiercely at Clarke. "And I promised that I would always do that."

"Then stay here and keep your promise."

Lexa nodded, grabbing a hat from the car and shoving it out, immediately feeling a bullet go through it. "We were set-up."

"Someone knew we were going to come and they were waiting for us." Clarke said. "And the only person that could have known this was that woman."

"But why would she tell us all of these things and then send us to a trap?"

"Because she hated Jake for not loving her and probably hated me too for being his daughter and a reminder of the woman he truly loved." Clarke said quietly. "Did you hear that?"

"I didn't hear anything." Lexa said confused.

"Exactly, everything is quiet." Clarke said while moving around the car so she could slide next to Lexa. "I don't like this." she added while taking a gun out of her purse.

"What the hell Clarke!" Lexa said surprised. "You have a gun?"

"Of course. You don't think that after being in this field for some time I wouldn't have learned how to defend myself?"

Lexa smiled. "I guess not Dr. Griffin. Do you know how to use it?"

Clarke smirked. "Of course, I go to the firing range every weekend."

Lexa nodded and patted her shoulder, getting serious. "I don't want to stay here any longer. But I'm also afraid of the sniper. We will need a distraction." Clarke finished.

"Like what?" Clarke asked while looking at Lexa get inside the car.

"Like this!" the brunette screamed while turning on the car and it quickly accelerating. "Now run!" she heard Lexa say.

Clarke quickly stood up and started to run behind Lexa. She expected to be shot at, but instead she saw the detective move from side to side, looking for a building nearby and finally making her way inside an old bakery.

"Why didn't the sniper shoot at us?" Clarke asked surprised.

"Because he shot at the car thinking we were in there." Lexa explained while taking deep breaths. "Where the hell is our back-up?!" she asked angrily. "I don't think we can stay running and hiding like this for long. They will surround us."

Clarke nodded. "I only have six bullets."

Lexa nodded in apprehension. "I have another full round and then I'm out."

Clarke flinched at those news, knowing that the odds were not in their favor. Lexa seemed to notice this and quickly took her hand.

"You trust me, right Clarke?" she heard Lexa ask her.

"With my life Lex and you know that." Clarke answered her seriously.

"Good, because there is something I want you to do for me, and you will probably need to lie. You need to make the men that are going to come inside the room think I'm injured."

"But Lex, it's impossible for me to lie. I break out into hives and stutter." Clarke whispered.

Lexa nodded in understanding. "Then, I guess we'll have to make it be the truth." she said while taking her gun out and shooting at her own leg.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Clarke screamed while running towards Lexa and putting her hands on the injury.

"I just grazed my leg." Lexa said while trying to not sound in pain. "No surgery or therapy, only a little bit of lost blood."

Clarke angrily looked at Lexa. "That was really stupid."

Lexa smiled a little. "Let's not make it be in vain. Now drop your gun right next to my right hand."

Clarke did as Lexa asked, getting a soft kiss on the lips in return. "Remember, I will pretend to be knocked out. You will face the shooter, so be ready for that."

Clarke nodded. "I have your back." she felt the brunette nod and fall limp when noises came from outside the bakery.

Clarke held a yelp, expecting to be shot point blank, but instead a man came in with a semiautomatic weapon. He looked at them and smiled.

"Which one of you is Clarke Griffin?"

"I am." Clarke answered him bravely.

"Let's move then. My boss wants you alive."

"I will not leave my friend behind." Clarke replied, expecting him to get closer and drag her out.

"I don't give a shit about your friend. My orders were to bring you alive to Mephisto." he said while getting within Lexa's grasp and grabbing Clarke's arm strongly.

Clarke screamed at the pain the man was exerting on her arm by pulling her hand to the point of almost breaking it. Nevertheless, she noticed Lexa move her right hand and quickly fire three shots into the man's chest, making him collapse on the floor.

Clarke felt herself breathe again, and after some words from Lex, her gaze moved away from his body and instead focused on the brunette.

Lexa was going to talk when they heard more voices coming from outside the bakery, and after a deep look, they both grabbed their guns and pointed them at the door, ready to shoot anyone that tried to get inside.

"Don't shoot, it's us Woods" she heard Kane say. "We are going to go in now." he added.

Lexa and Clarke looked at each other and felt their postures relax, the guns in their hands hitting the floor immediately. The two women then got closer to one another and started hugging and kissing each other hungrily, the adrenaline of the moment they just lived increasing their libido.

Kane made his way in, followed by Anya who was smirking at the spectacle in front of them: Lexa and Clarke were embracing and kissing each other with a dead man laying in front of them. Wanting to know if the women were ok, she huffed loudly and this made them separate from one another.

When Kane and Anya saw that they were alright they relaxed momentarily. Nevertheless, they knew that at some point they would have to deliver to them some bad news.

"Kane, the people on the cementery." Lexa started to say while using Clarke as a support to stand up.

"I'm sorry Lexa but they are all dead." he said sadly.

Clarke felt tears fall from her eyes, the sadness of so many lives lost and what she knew would be expecting her on her autopsy table. "How many?" she asked quietly.

"23." Anya whispered. "23 confirmed members of the Griffin family."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made Jake Griffin quite the womanizer hehehe. 
> 
> I hate Octavia on the show and hence she won't be in this story. Bellamy was barely named and his involvement will be almost null. Jasper as well because they're making them be ridiculous on the show and that pisses me off. *rant is over*


	15. Erkling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot gets thicker, Clarke and Lexa learn how carefully Mephisto has planned all of this. Raven is a badass and Anya fucks up big time. Kane is his usual diplomatic self and Lexa is her usual protective self.

Lexa and Clarke made their way to the graveyard hand in hand. They were still a little shaken up, but both women knew that if they didn't see what happened for themselves then they wouldn't be at peace.

It had taken them one hour to get all the bodies ready and have Kane and Anya go ahead and start taking fingerprints from the cadavers while Carla Florenci had disappeared from that crappy apartment after she sent them to that trap. That had frustrated Lexa tremendously because it meant that they were back again at square zero. It also made the detective feel frustrated and stupid for not trusting her gut instinct when they saw the old woman.

Clarke, meanwhile, also felt guilty and responsible for not realizing that they were being sent to a trap. She had always been proud about her capacity to analyze a person's expressions and realize if they were lying or not.  Perhaps it was because of what they talked with the old woman, or that she was simply becoming a liability to team, but Clarke was getting tired of all the lies.

It was not a nice environment, both women thought when they saw what remained of what one could assume was hours earlier a solemn service. Clarke saw many chairs splattered with brownish stains that she suspected were blood. Lexa, on the other hand, was looking at the scene thinking how the killers were capable of ambushing members of the Griffin family who were used to being careful.  Mob families were built around secrecy, and knowing locations of their members were secrets paid to be kept very well. So if Mephisto found the location of the service then that meant that the Griffin family had a snitch inside; a traitor.

Lexa also realized that the graveyard was surrounded by many buildings, which made it an easy target for snipers, who could set-up on any building and watch the whole scene from afar, which probably elevated the number of people involved in the heist.

"They never expected it." Lexa whispered. "Most of them were probably thinking about saying goodbye to a member of their family and then they get shot for it."

Clarke nodded. "I don't understand how Lex. I mean, they were all members of one of Boston's oldest mob families! Wouldn't they be ready for some sort of attack like this one?"

Lexa knew that Clarke was right. It didn't make sense that they were caught unprepared, which meant that the deception went way deeper than mere luck. "They had an accomplice inside the family."

"Who would sell their own family?" Clarke asked shocked.

"You have no idea what people are capable of doing for money." the detective said sadly. "This wouldn't be the first time I hear of someone betraying their family for easy money."

Clarke flinched. "Maybe it's because of my upbringing, or the fact that I had certain economical advantages because of the Griffin last name, but I still fail to see how someone could be capable of breaking a bond made by blood. Unless it was more about nurture than nature." Clarke said suddenly.

Lexa looked at her surprised. "So then the person that betrayed the family was not a blood relative?"

Clarke nodded. "Perhaps the accomplice was a member of the family for some other reason. Maybe he joined the family by marrying into it, or even got adopted." she whispered the last part.

Lexa saw what Clarke was trying to convey. "But you loved Abigail, and you would have never betrayed her."

"I love my mother but I certainly don't feel anything for the Griffins." Clarke said coldly. "Of course, I feel sadness at realizing how their life ended but I don't really feel any bond or loyalty that would allow me to die in order to protect the family."

Lexa nodded. "No judgment from me Clarke. I mean, I used to think that I belonged to a family but maybe I really do not." she said frustrated.

Clarke wrapped her arms around Lexa. "And I understand how that feels. I'm sorry you had to find out about it that way darling."

Lexa felt herself become calm immediately because of Clarke's touch and sweet words.

 She smiled softly. "Thank you Clarke, and sorry for being a douche."

"Well, even Mother Teresa would say something if she discovered the things you've uncovered during the last couple of days."

Lexa smiled. "Was that a joke?"

Clarke smiled back. "Only if it's funny."

Lexa closed her eyes and then turned around to face Clarke seriously. "What should I do?"

Clarke looked sadly at Lexa. "I wish I knew." she grabbed her hand. "But what I do know is that I'll be with you every step of the way."

Lexa smiled soflty and kissed Clarke on the lips. "The best you can do for me now is help me solve this. Help me find the truth of what is happening."

Clarke nodded and immediately went to one of the several crime scenes that were set-up by the forensic lab. "This one is the bloodiest." the blonde said. "And based on the reports that I have on my hand, the EM'S took 12 people from here to the hospital. Only 2 survived." she whispered the last part.

Lexa looked around the place, trying to find some kind of pattern that could explain how they were ambushed. She saw a weird substance on the floor. "Clarke, what's this?"

Clarke approached the place where Lexa was standing and quickly swabbed the floor where the yellowish substance was. She smelled it and immediately set it on a bag. "It's Trichloromethane."

"Trichelo what?" Lexa asked while starting to feel her eyes close against her will.

"Chloroform." Clarke explained while gesturing for Lexa to hold her breath. "If we stay here for longer we will start to feel dizzy and probably fall unconscious." she continued while pushing Lexa out from the graveyard and into the side of the street.

"Wouldn't chloroform be caught by the machines that the forensic team uses to analyze crime scenes?" Lexa asked angrily. "I mean, what the hell."

Clarke understood Lexa's frustration and anger. "I took a sample for testing, but this type of chloroform is not the usual one Lex."

"So you are telling me that creatures can have the ability of using chloroform against their victims and the chemical becomes untraceable for human machines?"  she said sarcastically.

Clarke just nodded. "It's not common, but there have been cases of some creatures excreting what we would consider chloroform after engaging in some kind of sexual activity."

Lexa looked at the scene and flinched. "In a graveyard?!"

Clarke also felt a little spooked out. "I would need to look for this component inside our victims and confirm this hypothesis of course."

Lexa relaxed a little. "So you could be wrong."

"No. Once I state something, and if I state something, I do it because I'm pretty certain of being correct." Clarke said sadly. "We will need to wear special equipment and gear for these autopsies."

"What about the second crime scene?" Lexa asked.

Clarke looked at the report. "There were 12 people taken to the hospital. None survived." she quickly said.

"So 10 plus 12 equals 22, which means that we are missing one." Lexa said.

"They took the priest that was presiding the mass." Clarke said quietly, her catholic upbringing making this statement feel evil and obscure. "We haven't found his body yet."

She could see Lexa felt the same.

"This case Clarke just keeps getting darker and darker. The number of victims keeps pilling up and the connections instead continue disappearing. It is almost as if they are hunting our leads down." Lexa said while looking down to where the body of the priest had been. "Clarke, I see some traces of blood." she said while getting her UV light. "And they lead away from here."

Clarke immediately followed Lexa. "It's like they were dragging someone. Look at the direction and pressure of the grass. It clearly goes against its normal growing pattern."

Lexa looked at Clarke quizzically, who just shrugged. "I may know one or two things about gardening."

The brunette smiled. "Only one or two?" she gestured to a path that led to one of the big family mausoleums. "The blood stops here."

Clarke took a sample before moving along the site, carefully looking at the floor to see if she could find the source of the blood. Nevertheless, what she found instead was a car, and after warning Lexa, both took their guns out. This made Lexa look at Clarke and smile softly.

"I'm still not used to seeing you with a gun."

"Well, in case you didn't notice, you don't have back-up, which calls for my expertise and support." Clarke said sarcastically.

Lexa rolled her eyes. "And even sarcastic. I tell you, you are hanging too much with me."

Clarke pointed her gun to the car and motioned for Lexa to step first, the detective doing so while being covered by the brunette.

"Clear." Lexa said after going to the left side of the house.

"Clear." Clarke said after checking the right side.

Both women lowered their guns and headed towards the car while putting their gloves on, not wanting to contaminate any kind of evidence.

"There are traces of broken glass here Lex." Clarke said while grabbing a couple and putting them in a bag.

"From the window?" Lexa asked.

"No, they are smaller, probably from glasses."

"I found who the owner of the car is." Lexa said while putting a wallet out and looking at the license. "Quintus River" she read.

"That was the name of the priest." Clarke said while looking at Lexa surprised. She quickly took the keys and opened the back of the car, finding some robes and what seemed to be books that were placed so they would cover something bigger.

Clarke moved the stuff away and froze.

"Why would he leave his wallet in the car?" Lexa asked the blonde without noticing her reaction.

"He didn't just leave his wallet." the doctor said while motioning for Lexa to come and look.

Lexa flinched when she did as Clarke asked, forcing herself to not throw up at the sight of a man strangely curled with his face almost destroyed. He was placed in such a way that it seemed as if he was facing them. Pretty disturbing and impossible to confirm it was the priest.

"This could be our lost priest." Lexa said while getting closer to the trunk. 

"Male, late fifties, apparent blow to the head that led to him to bleed out. Will probably need to take his prints and dentals for identification because of the transfiguration of the face." Clarke said while taking a sample of hair and prints.  

Lexa took her phone out and called dispatch. "I need a team to come to my location and prepare the processing of a crime scene." she hung up and then looked at Clarke who had also made a phone call to her team. "I guess this makes our body count be 23."

CLCLCLCL

The body count had been 24, the body of the priest having been found a couple of miles away from the crime scene. Similar to the body of the man of the car, now called John Doe, the head of the priest had been completely destroyed after having been shot execution style. The detectives thought that it was because the gunmen had taken the priest as a hostage and then murdered him when he proved no longer useful. Why, they were not sure, which is why Kane, Lexa and Anya were standing in front of the crime board, staring at the pictures of the victims and trying to see a connection between all of them.

"We got a confirmation that Carlota Florenci's place was empty. Since you told us that the place normally looked like a mess, we are not sure if she just left or she was taken against her will." Kane said while giving Lexa the pictures that the team took of the apartment.

"I checked cameras from airports and bus stations, the activity on her credit and debit cards, and put a bulletin out so she can't leave Boston." Anya said.

Lexa nodded and faced the two detectives. "What about our two surviving witnesses?"

"They were the ones responsible of identifying the bodies. I'm afraid they don't remember anything about the actual ambush but merely waking up to the sound of police sirens." Kane said clearly upset.

"You think they are not telling us what they saw on purpose?" Lexa asked.

Kane nodded. "No one can stay unconscious during such a violent crime."

"Clarke and I found on both crime scenes some kind of substance that had a high level of chloroform, which could explain why our two witnesses fell asleep." she explained. "I told Clarke to get a sample so she could analyze its components. Maybe she can also check if the survivors had those same chemicals inside their body."

"Where is the Doc?" Anya asked.

"She and Raven were going to prepare the morgue for the arrival of the bodies. They want to process them as fast as possible just in case something similar to what happened with the Fugus' victims doesn't occur again." Lexa explained. "But Clarke said she was going to call us as soon as she got any kind of lead." she finished while hearing her phone buzz. "I guess we summoned her."

"Woods."

" _Lexa._ " she heard Clarke say with fear.

"Clarke, are you ok?" she instantly asked while moving towards the elevators, Kane and Anya following her.

 _"The body, the body."_ Clarke stuttered.

"Clarke, calm down, I'm on my way right now." she told her calmly.

 _"Lexa, I don't understand, I can't..."_ she continued saying frantically while Lexa hung up of her phone and decided to just rush to the room and calm the blonde personally.

The three detectives finally made it to the morgue, looking at the scientists move frantically around the place with fear on their eyes. Lexa and Kane immediately took their guns out while Anya rushed towards Raven and checked her for any signs of injuries. When the brunette woman just huffed and told them that they were not hurt, Lexa moved to the autopsy room where they could see Clarke with her phone in her hand and shaking uncontrollably.

Lexa lowered her gun and stood in front of the blonde who seemed frozen by fear.

"Clarke, darling, look at me." she told her quietly. When this didn't make her react she grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Clarke!"

Clarke looked at Lexa and started to shake again. "Oh my God Lexa." she whispered while hugging her. "The body, it left."

Lexa looked at Kane and Anya who were speechless. "What do you mean by left? And what body?"

Raven answered for Clarke, who was calming down thanks to the presence of the detectives.

"Dr. Griffin and I were preparing to do the autopsy on the priest you found a couple of blocks away from the cementery. I went to the back room to gather some special equipment that we needed for the autopsy, and when I came back I saw Dr. Griffin frozen in fear and the body was gone." she explained. "That's when she took out her phone and called you."

"I was preparing to do the autopsy; and just before I started the Y incision it looked at me and moved out of the way." Clarke said clearly scared. "It looked at me and smiled before getting up and leaving." she continued after feeling the bile go to the back of her throat. "Excuse me." she managed to choke out before running to the sink and throwing up.

Lexa was speechless, she had never seen Clarke react in such a way and it scared her.

"Clarke, are you sure you're ok?" she asked quietly.

Clarke nodded and washed her mouth.

"Perhaps the man was alive and you two didn't notice." Anya was trying to logically explain the incident. "And he just woke up from the effects of the chloroform."

"The man was dead because he was shot in the back of the head." Raven said crudely. "If he was not death then he must not be normal, because a normal human being would have been death from such an injury."

Clarke nodded in agreement. "Besides, I saw the vitals that were taken at the crime scene and he was dead. Then I did the preliminary autopsy and he remained dead. I want to refute and question what my eyes saw but I cannot. The body, although it was medically dead, rose up from my autopsy table and left the morgue by itself."

Anya took her tablet out and accessed the cameras of the building. "I can look through the security cameras and see which way it headed." she said trying to be considerate, herself not actually believing what Dr. Griffin and Raven were saying.

"She's just saying in a polite way that she doesn't believe you and that she will prove to you that you're imagining things." Raven explained.

"Raven!" Anya said exasperated.

"Then don't be a jerk about it and just accept that some things can't be explained. Dr. Griffin would never lie about such a thing."

"It's not that I think Dr. Griffin would lie." Anya explained. "But she has gone through a lot of things and..."

"Anya, don't you dare finish that sentence if you're implying what I think you're implying." Lexa threatened her.

"It's not an attack!" Anya said while staring at Clarke who was looking challengingly at her. "I'm just as desperate as you're in finding the truth of what is happening."

"You're doing it while questioning one of your partners, and that means you don't trust her judgment and professionalism enough." Raven said angrily. "If you can't trust Clarke then that means you don't trust me either."

"Raven, that's not what I'm doing..." the younger detective said dejectedly.

"No, what you're doing is being a bitch." Raven replied angrily.

"Miss Reyes." Kane intervened. "While I strongly encourage coworkers to speak and communicate with each other, I will not have them insult one another."

"I apologize detective Kane, but currently, detective Trikru is being insensitive and criticizing a coworker based on her prejudice of what she assumes should be the status of Dr. Griffin's mental health." Raven spat at Anya who flinched at the coldness in her tone.

Before anyone could answer back, they saw that the tablet connected to the camera of the morgue and a recording of the previous half hour started to play. Anya silently pressed the forward button and stopped it approximately 10 minutes before Lexa got Clarke's call. The five of them saw on the monitor Clarke moving around the morgue and looking through folders, probably reading the vitals and results obtained by the field EM'S. After a few seconds Raven entered the frame, stopping herself to look at the body and point its face to Clarke who just shrugged.

The body of the man was laying on the autopsy table, and just like Raven said, it was clear he had been shot in the head. Clarke then touched the body, looked everywhere for any  signs of external injury and afterwards quickly wrote what she saw on the folder. Clarke then turned around and talked to Raven, who nodded and left the frame.

The blonde doctor was now standing in front of the body with a surgical knife on her hand, it being clear that she would start doing the Y incision. Nevertheless, what they saw next made the three detectives hold their breath: The moment the surgical knife touched the body of the man, which until this point had been lifeless, started to move its fingers and toes. Clarke, who had noticed the noise, yelled from the surprise and quickly stepped back. The man sat down, and after testing itself, stood up and left the morgue, leaving Clarke frozen and shaking visibly.

Everyone turned around and stared at Anya, who was gulping and looking at the tablet with embarrassment and regret.  

"Dr. Griffin I'm so sorry..." she started to apologize.

"You don't need to apologize." Clarke said coldly and it made all of the detectives flinch in fear.

Anya nodded and then looked at Raven, who was refusing to meet her eyes.

"Raven..." she then said.

"Not right now." the brunette interrupted. "I'm too angry and disappointed in you. Besides, we have more important things to worry about, like the fact that a cadaver walked away from the morgue."

"You cannot say that what we just saw was normal." Lexa whispered after a while. "Even for you."

Kane nodded. "It's not. Dr. Griffin, did you get samples from it?"

Clarke nodded and took her phone out. "In fact I just got the results." she said while reading. "This is odd. The blood of this man does not match with the one we have on file of Father River."

"Why would we have on file the blood of a priest?" Lexa asked surprised.

"Because he donated blood." Anya said while looking at the file. "Boston Hospital keeps records of all of its donors."

"Wait, Clarke. Remember that man we found on the trunk of the car? What if that was the real father River? I know you said his face was destroyed and unmatchable unless we took samples, but what if it was done on purpose?"

"So that a person could pretend to be dead and then have access to the morgue?" Raven asked surprised. "Why would someone want to come here? No offense doc since I like to come here as well." the brunette added.

"To get something?" Kane asked. "Did you have anything here Doc that could be deemed primordial to the investigation?"

"Well, everything that has to do with forensic evidence would be here detective. Blood samples, recovered belongings, bodies. We do inventory every day, so I will make Senior Criminalist Reyes check if anything is missing." Clarke said while staring at Raven who got the message.

"I'll start right away." she said solemnly and gave Anya one last angry look before leaving.

"I don't like this." Lexa said angrily. "Someone murdered Father River so they could pretend to be him on purpose. Do you have here the body of the man that we found in the trunk of the car?"

Clarke nodded and took the three detectives to the storage room, surely moving towards one of the cabinets and opening it. The body of another man of similar built to the moving corpse was on the table. It made it easier for the bodies to be confused with one another.

"Do you have an approximate time of death?" Lexa asked.  

"Approximately less than 8 hours." Clarke read her notes.

"So that means that he was killed before the service started, probably by the man who was then shot in the back of the head."

"But why such an elaborate thing?" Anya asked. "Because literally John Doe killed father River in the back of the priest's trunk, took his clothes and presided the funeral. Then, the ceremony gets attacked by gunmen who kill almost everyone and take the 'fake priest' as a hostage, shooting him in the back of the head blocks away from the crime scene."

"In order to blend in with the body of the victims and make its way here." Lexa said. "That way we would just assume that the man in the car was a victim of the priest and suspect him of being the snitch."  

"But the wallet was in the car with the real body. We would have matched it to the cadaver in the car right away." Anya argued. 

"And that's why they took the fake priest as a hostage and shot him a few blocks away from the scene." 

"Because that way we would have thought that the body in the trunk of the car was not the one of the priest." Clarke understood now. "The killer must not have known that the priest had his blood type in the system. He thought that we wouldn't have been capable of matching his DNA and instead would have used the testimony given to us as a way to mistakenly identify him."

"But the witnesses didn't remember anything." Lexa said. "How did we even find the body of the fake priest?" 

"There were cameras that recorded some masked men take the priest to the back of a van." Anya explained to them. "That was how we found the body."

"Still, we would have found out sooner or later that the bodies were switched." Kane said.

"But it gave John Doe enough time to take what he wanted from here and leave." Lexa said deeply. She then remembered something. "Clarke, in Van Helsing's diary, what creature, besides a Banshee, is capable of seeing death?"

Clarke looked up to Lexa. "I'm not sure Lex." she said while going to her office to get the book, quickly going over it.

"So switching identities with the priest, killing him and then pretending to be death was all a plan so they could come inside?" Kane asked.

"Not only that, but what type of creature is even capable of reviving itself? And what would it gain from doing such a thing?" Anya asked.

"Don't you see guys? It's all a game! An invitation to play against Mephistopheles, who by having a person be resurrected is showing us that he is like God." Lexa said exasperated.

"Lexa, there is one creature here that can possess the ability of walking among humans and not being alive at the same time." Clarke said quietly. "It's the Erkling."

Kane and Anya looked at each other with fear.

Lexa noticed this. "Is it bad?"

"Lexa, no one has heard about the Erkling appearing in our world for thousands of years." Kane said clearly scared. "It is considered a mythological creature of unparallel proportions."

"You mean to tell me this creature is considered a deity?" Lexa asked exasperated.

Kane and Clarke nodded, the blonde speaking. "The Erkling came from Germany, originally being a spirit that specifically hunts and takes away the people that are going to die. If you see its face and it's in pain, then your death will be painful. But, if its expression is calm, then you will die peacefully." Clarke said.

"Ok, and it didn't take anyone." Lexa said more to herself than to Clarke. "Or maybe he took Father Rivers? Because he was going to die anyway in the mass shooting?"

"Why would the Erkling come to take a simple priest? And that's if he took the priest instead of him dying because of something else." Anya said. "He could have been at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"That priest was specifically chosen by the Griffins." Kane said surely. "He was not just a random priest."

Lexa turned to face Clarke. "Can you please take a look his heart?" she asked.

"Why?" Kane asked instead.

Clarke, knowing what Lexa was suspecting, instantly went to get a surgical knife and did a Y incision on the cadaver, immediately being taken aback with what she saw. Or didn't see. The three detectives approached, and after looking at Clarke, she pointed to where the heart was supposed to be, instead being met by a dark hole.

"What the hell?!" Anya said taken aback. "There's no heart!"

"Maybe they took it out and closed him again." Kane said hopefully. He knew the legend as well

"No because I would find signs left by the surgery or the removal of the organ. Scientifically speaking, I can't explain how this man's heart was removed from his body." Clarke said quietly.

"Well I can." Lexa said while pointing at Van Helsing's diary. "It says here that the Erkling takes the heart of its victims because it is believed that the soul, the essence of a person, is in its heart. Could the Erkling be responsible for the chloroform found on our crime scenes?"

"It's a possibility. It also says here that the Erkling usually traps its victims in some sort of dream, which he uses to easily take the heart out." Clarke said after snapping the book from Lexa's hands and reading it herself.

"So now you are telling me that not only do we have a creature that may be the ruler of the underworld. Or a creature capable of attracting humans and killing them by merely having sex with them. But now you're adding to the list an ancient creature that can suck the hearts out of people's chest?" Anya almost screamed.

"This is bigger than us." Kane said quietly. "We may be fighting for something bigger than just the murders of all of these victims."

Lexa wanted to laugh, but the fear didn't allow her. "So you are basically saying that we are fighting against the forces of evil?"

Kane nodded. "We are fighting the forces of evil for the future of our world."


	16. Rougher Ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke and Lexa reconnect, Lexa confronts Anya and Gustus.

Lexa was silently staring through the window. To say that she was shocked was an understatement: She was terrified. For the first time in her life, Alexandra Woods was experiencing something that she had promised herself to never feel. It frightened her, incapacitated her to think and act clearly, and more importantly, made her lose confidence in herself. She knew that she wasn't alone: She had seen the expressions of Kane and Anya, the insecurity in Clarke's face and the sudden silence that fell over all of them when they realized that this case had become a battle that they couldn't afford to lose.

Lexa had waited until Clarke went to the morgue to turn around and face her partner, who had only said the necessary to remind them that she was with them. She had been pissed at the younger brunette for questioning Clarke and showing a dividing front to Kane. The last thing they needed to do was start mistrusting each other and now things were clearly tense between them and the Medical Examiner office.

"You fucked up." Lexa said straight to the point.

"I had to ask." Anya tried to defend herself.

"You should have come to me with your questions. Not blindside me and attack the Medical Examiner."

"Attack the Medical Examiner or attack Clarke?"

"Don't you dare go there. You know that I would never compromise an investigation and Clarke has been nothing more than professional. Something you were not." the older brunette said strongly. "You went behind your partner's back and challenged a colleague. And that's not the way we do things."

This time Anya looked down in embarrassment because she knew Lexa was right. She had fucked up.

"I'm sorry." she apologized to Lexa. "I messed things up and not only did I ruin my professional relationship with Dr. Griffin but Raven won't even talk to me."

"You judged her department's capability to remain objective!" Lexa said loudly. "Did you really not expect her to get upset? You could have shared your concerns with her as well but you didn't." she closed her eyes. "No one is upset at you for asking about the mental health of the people in the investigation. What we're upset about is the way you did it."

"I know."

"I don't think you realize the severity of what you almost pulled off. If it would have been someone else inside that room instead of Kane we would have been investigated Anya! You could have compromised everything we have done."

Anya had tears in her eyes and this made Lexa feel a little bad. The younger brunette was learning the ropes and she was a good person that had made a very big mistake. She also knew that Clarke would forgive her because that was just the kind of person the blonde was. Raven was a different case because they were romantically involved and she knew that relationship was the one thing Anya was most worried about.

"What do I do?" the younger detective asked her and Lexa knew she was referring to Raven.

"Suck up your pride and apologize." she said softly. "And promise to never do what you did again."

Anya nodded and made her way out, not before asking her to tell Clarke that she was sorry yet again.

Everyone decided to head home and try to sleep in order to try to make some sense of what was happening and gain some peace of mind. But Lexa knew too well that she was not going to find peace at her home, or the place she had believed until recently was her home. And she knew that Clarke realized what she was thinking because after being left alone on the morgue, the two women looked at each other and exhaled, neither too comfortable about going to their respective houses.

_(Flashback)_

"You could stay with..."

"Do you mind if I..." they interrupted each other.

Lexa smiled softly. "You go first."

"You can stay with me Lex." Clarke simply stated.

Lexa understood what Clarke meant by that sentence; that there was no judgment from her and that she didn't have to face her demons today.

"I wish I could." Lexa whispered. "But if I don't hear the truth from him it will consume me. I think not knowing is far worse than knowing."

Clarke nodded and took the brunette's hands. "If you want me there, I'll be there."

Lexa looked up and saw the determination on Clarke's face. She kissed her softly, trying to gain some bravery for what she knew she was about to do.

"I think I have to do this alone." Lexa said quietly. "And not because I don't trust you, because I do. I trust you with all my heart." the detective said surely. "But I need to do this for me and face what I may find out."

"You do Lex, and I understand. But keep in mind that you don't have to do things alone. Not anymore." Clarke answered while kissing Lexa again.

"I love you Clarke Griffin." Lexa said after ending the kiss.

"And I love you too."

_(End of Flashback)_

Lexa focused on what she had to do, or at least on what she was trying to do. Suddenly her legs were weak and her heart was beating frantically. Grabbing the steering wheel tighter, she closed her eyes and tried to breath, to find a pattern that would calm her fears. She was detective Alexandra Woods for God's sake, not some rookie cop that was walking to their first crime scene. Lexa had seen the many faces of evil, had been faced by them and walked out victoriously to live and tell the story. So then why was she now so scared of getting out of her car and knock her father's door? Was it fear of being told that her life had been a lie?

She saw her phone turn on, a notification that she had gotten a text message popping up. With her trembling hands she opened it.

 ** _"_** ** _Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries?_** ** _You may shoot me with your words,_** **_You may cut me with your eyes,_** **_You may kill me with your hatefulness. But still, like air, I’ll rise._** _Because Alexandra Woods, just like air, rises all the time. Because Alexandra Woods, just like air, rises when she falls. Because Alexandra Woods, just like air, rises when everyone else is down. I love you Lex, and although I know you won't fall, I'll be behind you to catch you just in case."_

Lexa closed her phone, feeling the tears in her eyes fall unceremoniously. She took her seat belt off and quietly opened the door of her car. She got her stuff out and quickly walked to the front of the house, her breath becoming suddenly calm. She looked at herself through the glass, and with a quick nod she became Alexandra Woods again.She was not going to fall, not to this.

Lexa rang the bell, and after a couple of minutes her father was opening the door, clearly surprised by her visit.

"Lexie, what are _you_ doing here?" her father asked worriedly. "Are you hurt?"

"No Pa, I'm ok. And I came because I wanted to talk to you." Lexa said while going inside the house and making her way to the living room.

Gustus followed her in and sat on the couch. Lexa took a deep breath, trying to figure out where to start. "Remember that promotion I got a few weeks ago?"

Gustus nodded. "I do because I've barely seen you since you took it."

"Well, it was to a special unit of the Boston PD, one that specializes in particular cases. Cases that may move away from the science and enter more into the supernatural kind of thing."

"Like the X-Files?" her father asked surprised.

Lexa smiled slightly at the reference, realizing that Clarke was Scully and she was Muller. "Well, we are in this very bad case, one that we still haven't solved." the brunette took a deep breath again. "And today, while interviewing a witness, she told me many things about myself."

"About you? I hope nothing bad."

"Her name was Carlota Florenci." Lexa snapped.

She saw Gustus flinch, recognition on his expression, one that he tried to mask but failed.

"I want the truth Pa. Am I your daughter?" she whispered the question.

"You are my daughter Lexa." he whispered.

"Let me rephrase it. Am I your biological daughter?

Gustus looked at her through tears in his eyes and this was all it took for Lexa to confirm her suspicions. She stood up and started to make her way out of the house, but her father's grip stopped her.

"Lexie." he started to say.

"Don't you dare use that nickname, not now Pa." she caught herself saying. "God." she said sadly. "I don't even know how to call you anymore."

Gustus tried to speak again. "I have always seen you as my daughter Lexa."

"Explain to me why. And how?" Lexa whispered, barely containing her self-control.

Gustus moved around the room, his nervousness obvious. "After we got married, your mother and I were unable to conceive for many years."

"Well, that's ironic." Lexa said sarcastically.

"It was almost as if we were waiting for you to come into our lives, and you specifically Lexa." her father said while grabbing her hand. "One day we just found you on our front porch and just like that it seemed that our prayers had been answered."

Lexa looked at her father, trying to find any traces of deception in what he said. She found none. "Why did you keep it from me?" she asked sadly.

"Because I never saw you as adopted Lexa. To me you were always mine, a gift that had been sent to just me. You were, and still are, such a gift my sweet darling."

Lexa felt her tears fall, and without her wanting to she started to cry loudly, too overwhelmed. "Did you know who I was?"

Gustus looked sadly at her daughter, imagining her pain. "Only a letter that said that you were special and that you needed a good family to raise you and take care you."

Lexa nodded, finding similarities between Clarke's story and her own. Both left to be taken care of but in two completely different families. One an influential member of the Boston socialite and the other a blue collar Boston-Egyptian family. It almost seemed as if done on purpose and this made Lexa wonder if in some way this was planned.

She rose up from the couch, too exhausted to stay there and discuss this with her father. She had come with one purpose and that was to learn the truth. And she had.

"Lexa where are you going?" Gustus asked. "Don't you want to stay?"

"Right now I can't, there's just too much going on. I'm sorry." she said, noticing immediately that she had stopped using Pa. She smiled sadly at the fact and just left Gustus standing on the door.

CLCLCLCL

 _This was a sad night for all of them_ , Clarke thought while taking a glass and pouring herself some wine.

It had been too difficult to look at the faces of the detectives after their findings, the desolation and fear reflected on them. But it had been even more difficult to look at Lexa, look at her sorrow and allow her to go face her own demons alone. She had tried to engage and be there for the brunette, but not surprisingly she was met with a sad refusal from her detective.

Did she feel scared for her? Yes, she did. She still remembered how hard it had been for her when her mother finally told her the truth about her adoption and how disappointed and lied to she had felt. She imagined Lexa feeling all of those things and it made her heart cringe: The way she was being forced to find out about it was terrible, and it pained her to see the woman she loves suffer.

Clarke had always been fond of Maya Angelou, and in a moment of meditation she found herself thinking about Lexa and how most of Angelou's poems related to her. Quickly taking her phone out she texted the brunette her favorite one, maybe in a selfish attempt to be in some way there with her. It didn't calm her nerves completely, but it made her feel a little bit calmer to know that she had made her support visible and tangible to Lexa. She still had some difficulty in coping with her emotions and how she showed them to the rest of people, especially to Lexa. Of course she felt love, passion and lust just like any other human being, but many years of self-restrain had made her become quite adept at controlling her urges and deepest desires. Clarke knew it was indelicate, and perhaps a little morbid to be thinking about it, but it had been weeks since Lexa and her had been together. It upset her to think about the issue, and it even made her feel guilty at her lack of tolerance for the situation they were facing.

Yet, her brain rationalized that it was completely natural. Under a situation of high stress and fear, it was normal to crave for physical contact. The release of Immunoglobulin A relieved stress and warded off colds, which in her opinion were very good reasons for engaging in this activity with Lexa. She was interrupted from her meditation by a pounding that seem to come from her front door. Clarke grabbed her gun, and after quickly walking to the door, she saw Lexa waiting. Lowering the weapon, she opened it and the brunette got inside, too distracted to even notice the gun the blonde was holding.

"Carlota was right." Lexa said sadly. "I am adopted."

Clarke left her gun on the cabinet and quickly went to where Lexa was standing. "I'm so sorry."

"I think I always suspected it." Lexa said more to herself than to Clarke. "I had always been so different to my father, always wanting to do things my way and not the way he told me to."

"Being independent and strong willed is not something to be ashamed of." Clarke said. "And it clearly is something to be proud of."

Lexa looked at Clarke. "He didn't even try to deny it Clarke. My whole life, a big lie." she whispered, the tears already falling. "I feel so lost; my home, my memories, all of it shattered."

Clarke went to face Lexa and hugged her tightly. "I understand what you are feeling Lex. And right now, nothing I tell you will make you feel better. So tell me, what do you want me to do?"

Lexa stopped crying, which scared Clarke a little and made her stop the embrace between them. Expecting to find sorrow in the brunette's eyes, what she saw instead was determination and arousal?

Clarke gulped, feeling immediately guilty for even thinking about THAT during Lexa's sad moment. The brunette needed her to be there as a companion and supporter, not as a lusty teenager.

The silence extended between the two of them, and just when Clarke felt the necessity to break it, Lexa fiercely kissed her. The moan that came from her throat was the most animalistic sound she had ever made, and deeply ashamed she started to pull away from Lexa, who refused to let her out of her sight and kissed her even tighter.

"Lex." Clarke whispered. "I think we should stop."

"Do you want to stop?" Lexa asked while pushing Clarke to the wall and pressing herself to the blonde's body, which made her shiver. "Because I will stop as soon as you tell me to."

Clarke whimpered. "I want to be there for you, Lexa. But God forbid me, the only thing I have been thinking about since we left the station was this." she confessed.  "But I know that you are in pain darling."

Lexa stopped for a while. "I was in pain until you opened the door and looked at me." she said honestly. "I think that the only thing holding my sanity right now is to know that you are here for me."

Clarke kissed Lexa's temple. "And I will be here always."

Lexa kissed Clarke again. "Good, because the only thing I want to do know right now is ravish you." she whispered while again attacking Clarke's lips.

Clarke's last attempt at self-control faded when she heard Lexa purr, and without any delicacy she kissed Lexa back, her tongue grazing the brunette's lips and asking for entrance, which was immediately granted. Both women were panting heavily, the desire and passion within and between them growing.

They both wanted more from the other, and without any sweet caress, Clarke tore Lexa's shirt and went for her breasts, biting and leaving marks everywhere. Was it rude? Yes, but she didn't care. It had been too long and leaving her marks on Lexa's body aroused her even more.

Lexa on the other hand was enjoying the mixture of pain and pleasure that Clarke was using towards her. She had never seen the blonde be so primal, so animalistic, and it turned her on even more. It made her want to return the ferocity and make things escalate faster. Lexa decided that she was going to make that happen, and with a strength she forgot she had, she grabbed Clarke by her tights and placed her on the top of the kitchen counter, tearing the skirt the blonde had been wearing and leaving it on the floor. She opened Clarke's legs to the point where she could fit her body between them and started to hump against it. She heard Clarke moan her approval and in the same way meet her thrusts halfway.

It was making Lexa become crazy, and that was when she noticed that Clarke was still wearing her shirt. Wanting to rectify this, she tore the fabric apart and moved the bra down without unclasping it, because who had time for that, and attacked both breasts. Lexa was trying to capture them with her mouth and at the same time keep moving her body towards Clarke, who started to moan louder with every passing minute.

Clarke was at the edge of pure pleasure, the passion with which Lexa was fucking her almost making her reach oblivion. She contained it, and wanting to feel the brunette's naked body as well, she separated her from her breasts and used her own hands to unbuckle her belt and lower the pants and panties in one hard motion. Clarke's hands started to explore the newly revealed skin and her lips were still trailing kisses down Lexa's upper body. Knowing that their position was not beneficial for what she wanted to do next, Clarke pushed herself away from the counter and silently asked Lexa to lay on the floor, which the brunette did immediately. Laying on top of her, Clarke started to kiss Lexa fiercely.

When she moved her finger's downwards, Clarke found that Lexa was extremely aroused, and this made her impatience get the best of her. Without warning the brunette she moved her fingers inside, a huge scream coming from Lexa who had not been expecting the intrusion at all but still welcomed it. With strong and decisive thrusts, Clarke kissed Lexa's breasts while pushing her towards oblivion, chanting words of love and encouragement while the brunette moaned her appreciation. She felt her clench around her fingers and she knew that Lexa was really close to climaxing. She increased her finger's speed.

When Lexa felt Clarke increase the speed of her thrusts she knew that they were nearing the end. Lexa, in a moment of clarity, realized that she had not touched Clarke in any way.  Wanting to fix this and make both of them come, she moved Clarke's panties away and also pushed her fingers inside, with the difference that she was also rubbing the blonde's clit furiously. Clarke moaned encouragingly and Lexa increased the strength of her thrusts.

Both women kept on moving their bodies downwards, attempting to create more friction between them. Their kisses were becoming sloppier and their eyes remained closed because of the wave of desire that was dominating them. Clarke was the first one to come, and after letting Lexa know that she was ready, she moved her hand faster so that Lexa could cum with her.

Both women opened their eyes at the exact same time, wanting nothing more than to see the other in her point of ecstasy. That made the trick and a high scream came from both of them, a scream that led to the most sweet and powerful aftershocks they had ever experienced. Clarke tried to move away from Lexa's body because she was placing all of her weight on her, but the brunette was holding her tight in place. They looked at each other without saying a word and couldn't help themselves from chuckling warmly. They knew that they had been rough with one another, but they also knew that they had both needed this: They had needed to fuck.

But now it was different: Clarke saw devotion in Lexa's eyes and Lexa saw love in Clarke's. This look was not as carnal and as desperate as the one they've had when Lexa knocked on Clarke's door, but it was one that promised much more: It was a look that promised love and faithfulness from each other. It was a look that asked the other to help them heal and to always be there. And both women were going to honor that promise.

Lexa helped Clarke move up from the kitchen floor and silently walked alongside her to Clarke's room; where they both laid down and made love to each other during the whole night.


	17. Heleste Phisomp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> News about Carlota, Clarke and Lexa go to another crime scene and we learn more about Mephisto's background.

It took a while for Clarke to realize where she was and how she had gotten there. When the sun made its way through the window  she opened her eyes and quietly tried to move out of the bed, her attempt being stopped by a strong arm that was holding her tight. Clarke turned around to see who was holding her and she smiled when she saw Lexa peacefully sleeping next to her.

Last night had been incredible, and now that she was trying to move she could feel a pleasant ache between her legs all thanks to their love-making sessions. She had been surprised by their roughness at first, being used to Lexa protecting her from everything. But once both got done, the lust that had blinded them faded to tenderness and sweet caresses from both of them. Each moment that she spent with Lexa made her realize how much she loved her and how much she needed the brunette to be a part her life. Their relationship had become a mutualism in which Clarke needed Lexa just much as Lexa seemed to need her  

She smiled softly, noticing how her brain would immediately go to science to justify her behaviors and desires. She not only loved Lexa, but she also desired her deeply, which added a certain level of irrationality to her actions and words around the detective. Before meeting Lexa, Clarke had been used to an specific routine and to having control over her emotions and feelings. This approach had helped her before in coping with the toughness of life while avoiding to get hurt by it. She was both, afraid and excited, about the vulnerability that Lexa made her feel. She knew she was a goner the moment the brunette opened her eyes and smiled brightly at her.

Clarke was madly in love with the woman that was laying right next to her and she knew that was going to be for the rest of her life.

"Hey." Lexa said quietly. "It's too early to be thinking that much."

Clarke smiled softly. "I was just thinking how lucky I am."

Lexa smiled brightly. "I am the lucky one Clarke." she grabbed the blonde's hand and kissed it softly.  "I'm sorry about last night."

Clarke looked perplexed. "Why are you apologizing?"

Lexa shrugged. "Because I just came and had my wicked way with you." she said quietly but then a smirk appeared on her face. "And I enjoyed it completely."

Clarke grabbed Lexa's hand and squeezed it. "You only did what I had been wanting you to do for weeks. Although I feel we need to talk about what happened yesterday before you came to my place."

Lexa stiffed but nevertheless nodded. "I don't know how to begin."

"Maybe start at the beginning?" Clarke said softly and sweetly.

"My father didn't deny a thing." Lexa said sadly. "And it feels so strange Clarke. Almost as if..."

"They threw you a bucket full of water that woke you up from a long dream?" Clarke said while smiling softly. "I know how that feels."

Lexa smiled sadly. "I forgot that you went through the same thing. I'm being really selfish."

"You are not Lex. You are always focused on protecting and helping others. Let someone else help you for a change. Let me help you." Clarke implored while looking at Lexa deeply. "I want to be there for you just like you have been here for me."

Lexa looked reverently at Clarke. "You are incredible."

Clarke smiled softly but stayed quiet so Lexa would continue talking.

"And I feel like my whole life was a very big lie. I know it shouldn't be like that, that the feelings and experiences lived were real, but nevertheless, I question myself on the authenticity of them. Was I the only one oblivious to my adoption or was the rest of my family aware of this?"

"These questions will only bring you more sadness and stress." Clarke said. "Sadly, and no matter how hard you try, you will never find answers that will suffice."

"How did you do it Clarke?" Lexa whispered. "How did you find closure and were capable of moving forward?"

Clarke chuckled. "Who said I have found closure?"  she exhaled. "I think I was able to move forward because I realized that although I wasn't officially a Griffin, my parents never made me feel alienated from the family. Although they were cold and a little distant, to them I was a Griffin. I know your family doesn't see you as Lexa the adopted child but as Alexandra Woods."

Despite the seriousness of the situation Lexa smiled. "Well, that is true. Specially Ma with that silly book about our family heritage and..." the brunette stopped talking.

"Is something the matter?" Clarke asked worriedly.

"Something my dad said, or avoided to say to be precise." Lexa said quietly. "When I told her that Carla Florenci spoke to me, I could have sworn that the name was familiar to him."

"Could they know each other?" Clarke asked curiously. "She does live in North Boston and your family is from that neighborhood."

"Right now, and after everything I have learned during the last couple of weeks, I believe in anything." Lexa said sarcastically. "What am I going to do?"

Clarke looked sadly at Lexa. "Only you know."

Lexa cried a little and she immediately felt herself being embraced by Clarke, who was whispering sweet and calming words.

"Whatever you want to do I will support you."

Lexa looked at Clarke. "Even if you know it will be something stupid?"

"Even if I know it will be something stupid." Clarke reassured her.

"Wow, I guess you must really love me." Lexa joked.

"I do, and so much." Clarke whispered reverently. "I never expected to feel this way for anyone. You have changed me Lex. I think you have made me become a better person. You've helped me have closure on my relationship with my mother. You keep protecting me from the brutality of this job and from my insecurities. Falling in love with you was just something meant to happen."

Lexa hadn't expected this response from Clarke, and after staring deeply at her she smiled. "God Clarke, how do you always know what to say? Here I am feeling butterflies in my stomach and wanting to do nothing more than kiss you."

"Then why haven't you?" Clarke purred.

Lexa smiled and made her way towards Clarke, but before they could reach one another their phones rang, making both women groan in annoyance at being interrupted.

"My father." Lexa mouthed.

"Sergeant Kane." Clarke said to Lexa.

"Hi father." Lexa answered quietly. "What's up?"

 _'Lexa.'_ her father said scared. _'Are you alright?'_

"Mmm let me think? I guess I am based on the fact that a few hours ago I learned that most of my life has been a lie." she said angrily. "What kind of question is that?"

 _'I'm sorry Lexa but I don't really know what to say.'_ her father said quietly.

'You could start by telling me what is your relationship with Carla Florenci.' Lexa pushed the subject and she heard her father flinch.

_'I don't know what you are talking about.'_

"Bullshit." Lexa said angrily, making Clarke look disapprovingly at her. "I would expect that after being caught in a lie you would stop lying to me. Guess I was wrong."

 _'No Lexie, it's not that...'_ her father said, trying to explain. _'It's complicated.'_

"Well, you can call me when you decide to tell me the truth." Lexa said coldly. "I don't want to be lied to anymore." she finished while ending the call.

"But it's impossible." Lexa heard Clarke say. "Biologically speaking they cannot die."

_'I thought so too Doc, but I am at the crime scene, standing right in front of what is left of the body.'_

Clarke exhaled. "I will be on my way." she finished while hanging the phone.

"What did Kane say?" Lexa asked.

"They just found Carla Florenci."

"That's great news! If my father won't tell me the truth then maybe she will." Lexa said while standing up.

Clarke stopped her. "No, it's not."

"What do you mean it's not."

"Sergeant Kane called me because they just found the remains of Carla Florenci in an old storage room in South Boston."

CLCLCLCL

It had taken them 30 minutes to get ready and be on their way to South Boston. They were frustrated by the news given to them by Kane. One of their two witnesses and sources had just been found dead, which meant that the trail went cold yet again. To make things worse, it also meant that Lexa's questions could only be answered by her father, who was refusing to tell her the truth.

"Maybe he has her reasons?" Clarke said quietly while following Lexa through the buildings.

"I just want the truth. Is that a really hard thing to ask for?" Lexa asked exasperated. "I swear every time we end up finding a new lead the case becomes even more complex."

Clarke nodded. "We are so behind in the morgue. The shooting in the graveyard overcrowded us and since then we've had to do extensive autopsies and analyses on the bodies that we're so overwhelmed. I'm afraid the body count will keep increasing Lexa."

Lexa looked at Clarke. Sometimes she forgot that things like this could shock the blonde as well. Just because Clarke did autopsies it didn't mean that she liked the idea of people dying in order to be at her table. The reality was quite the opposite: Ironically, Lexa had never met a person so thankful and satisfied with life than Clarke Griffin. Because Clarke was used to knowing death, the gift of life was something that she truly valued.

"I promise you we will find the people responsible for this. And I keep my promises. "

Clarke smiled. "That you do." she continued and finally saw the yellow tape that separated the street from the crime scene.

Both women identified themselves, and after a brief checking of the surroundings, they went inside the storage room. They immediately felt the smell of decomposition and after adjusting to the putrefaction they went to meet with Kane and Anya.

"They found her two hours ago after some complains about the smell." Anya said clearly nauseated. "Took 20 minutes for units to come in and report her to us."

Clarke left them and went to where the body was, immediately taking a thermometer out of her bag. "She is still warm. I would say between 1 to 3 hours."

"Then how come she already smells?" Lexa asked surprised.

"She smells because the Bean Nighe, after they die, have a very strong smell that comes out of their body. Although this one does not fit with their usual aroma." Clarke said while sniffling.

"So what does that mean?" Kane asked quietly.

"It means that I'm not sure if the woman that we have here is a Bean Nighe."

"But you just told me that Carlota was a Bean Nighe."

"And she is." Clarke said quietly.

"Well, the body that I see right next to you clearly looks like Carlota." Lexa said exasperated. "Wait, she is a creature?" the brunette exclaimed.

Clarke nodded. "It does look like it's her but it's not." she said while taking a syringe and drawing blood out of the body. After doing this she took a small machine from out of her bag and placed it on the floor.

"The hell is that?" Lexa asked surprised.

"It is a Transluminar Proton Developer." Anya said excitedly. "It helps identify the species of a creature by merely taking a blood sample."

Lexa nodded in understanding and saw Clarke quietly pour the blood inside the machine. It was a couple of minutes until they heard it beep and they all approached it.  

"As I suspected." Clarke said while giving the results to Lexa. "It's impossible this woman is Carlota Florenci because this body belongs to a shifter."

"A shifter?"

"A shifter is a creature that has the capability of changing their appearance." Kane said.

"Like me, but sadly I can only copy physical appearance. The shifters can actually copy and use abilities." Anya explained.

"That's a very cool thing to do." Lexa said surprised.

"Yes, and although they are very good at copying other powers, there are some things that cannot be copied, such as the putrefaction smell of a Bean Nighe." Clarke added.

"Then who the hell is this person?" Lexa asked quietly. "And why is it pretending to be Carla Florenci?"

"Maybe to distract us or to make us believe that Carlota is dead so we would forget about her?" Kane said while looking at Clarke. "Only a handful of people could have realized that the smell from the creature didn't match the one of a Bean Nighe." he said proudly. "Good job Dr. Griffin."

Clarke smiled brightly. "Thank you Sergeant Kane."

"And may I ask how you know the smell of such a creature?" Anya asked nauseated.

Clarke simply stared at her and everyone noticed the tension between two women, Anya trying to act as if nothing happened and the blonde woman thinking of how to react.  

"During my first year as a medical examiner I went to Scotland because I was asked by a local policeman to help him solve a murder. The victim was a very old widow that had a fame of being a seer, which fitted her because she was a Bean Nighe." Clarke said absently. "The case ended on a bad note because the investigators found that she was killed by a robber who thought she had money in her office."

Lexa looked up surprised. "Is it that common to find old creatures such a Bean Nighe's being killed in normal crimes such as a robbery?"

Kane answered. "Not necessarily but it's not like it hasn't been heard off. Sometimes these creatures are just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Lexa looked towards Clarke who was thinking deeply. "You don't think it was a random crime, right?"

Clarke nodded. "I didn't have the sufficient evidence to support their conclusions; and after a while the police ended the investigation because a man confessed to the crime."

"'But?" Anya asked.

"But his description of the crime didn't match with the evidence, right?" Lexa said instead.

"Yes. It was too professional for it to be done by just a petty robber. The lack of evidence, the fact that they got a Bean Nighe who can know if they are going to die and the necessity of the police to close the investigation led me to believe that it was more complex than suspected."

"Complex as in?" Lexa asked.

"Complex as government involved." Anya said while taking her tablet out and loading an article. "It says here that the investigation was shut down without any kind of evidence after getting a confession from an old man named Heleste Phisomp. Nevertheless, they never charged the man with murder because he received immunity in exchange for his cooperation in the solving of some cold cases."

"Oh my God." Clarke said, instantly grabbing Lexa's hand.

"What? What is wrong?" Lexa asked instantly concerned. "Do you recognize that name."

"It's not a name. It's an acronym." Clarke whispered.  

"An acronym for what?" Kane asked.

"Mephistopheles." Clarke stated, scared of even pronouncing the name out-loud.


	18. The Oracle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with a long update! Hope you like and be ready for answers.

The sole mention of the name had made the three detectives and doctor tremble. Clarke had immediately made the connection after remembering some details about the case. In all honesty, it didn't surprise her that by some strange fact the creature they were chasing had also  been responsible for the murder.

Lexa, on the other hand, had been too terrified to react to the news. The fact that the creature had been that close to Clarke had spooked her and made her suspect that the presence of the blonde in Scotland had not been a coincidence but the premeditated planning of a ruthless creature that seemed to be in a vendetta against Clarke's family.

"How long ago was this case?" Lexa whispered.

"It was almost four years ago." Clarke said quietly. "I had just been named the M.E of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts a few months before I received their call."

"Do you know why they asked for you?" Lexa  asked. "Not that you didn't have the expertise, but it is a long way for a merely normal consult."

"I understand your point Lex  and I was also surprised when they called me, but they argued that they had heard about similar murders occurring in Boston and they wanted my expertise." Clarke said while suddenly remembering. "After I had been recommended by a person that followed my cases closely in Boston." she whispered.

Lexa moved around the crime scene and immediately hit the back of a trashcan, making the two detectives and Clarke flinch. She apologized.

"I'm sorry but I hate this. This creature is manipulating and playing us like we are all in a stupid chess set. And I specially don't like the fact that it has been chasing Clarke for a long time." Lexa said angrily.

"I don't like it either Lexa." Kane said while trying to soothe her. "But the worst that we can do right now is let our emotions control us. When they do we get sloppy, and trust me, I know what the Doc means to you." he whispered the last part. "I'm also deeply worried about her."

"No, you don't understand." Lexa said quietly but with determination. "If something ever happens to her..."

Lexa got interrupted by Kane. "Don't even go there. If we do our job well and find this creature before it finds the Doc then we won't have anything to worry about."  he finished while smiling softly. "We will do our damndest to protect her Lexa, she is family."

Lexa smiled softly, feeling a little better. "Thank you Kane."

He just shrugged and went to where Clarke and Anya had stayed talking with each other. "Do you think you can get something from her prints Doc?"

"I'm afraid they will match to the ones of Carlota Florenci." Clarke said while standing up. "This shifter died in her form so the only forensic evidence that we will find will match to the person it copied."

"I already went over the scene with the crime scene technicians." Anya said while putting her tablet out. "They managed to find some particles and gun barrels. Although they don't think they are involved in this homicide they  will take them for further analysis at the lab."

"And I will head there with the body and start the autopsy." the blonde said while standing up. She noticed that Lexa had stayed away from all of them and it broke her heart.

Kane saw this and nodded. "Go talk to her Doc. I will make sure they put the body in the van and let you know when they are ready to leave."

Clarke smiled softly and nodded, slowly making her way to where Lexa was standing.

"A penny for your thoughts?" she asked calmly.

Lexa turned around and saw Clarke staring peacefully at her, which made the brunette feel bad immediately.

"I'm sorry I stormed out like that." she apologized.

"You don't have to apologize for caring Lex."

"I just feel so useless  Clarke." Lexa whispered while looking at the floor. "How can you trust me with your life when I can barely keep up with this creature?"

Clarke felt her heart  ache after hearing this remark. She hated to see Lexa feel so insecure about herself.

"All of this." she said while pointing at the crime scene. "Is not your fault."

Lexa looked up and saw fierceness in Clarke's eyes. "But it is Clarke. It is my fault because we just can't catch this creature. And because we can't catch it more people end up dying."

"No Lexa. It's not your fault that this creature is killing innocent people because it likes to. It's also not your fault that this creature is chasing my family and me." Clarke whispered the last part. "So if something ever happened to me..."

Lexa stopped Clarke from finishing that sentence with a hard and silencing kiss. She separated when she felt herself run out of breath.

"I won't let anything happen to you Clarke, do you understand? Nothing."

Clarke looked reverently at the brunette, and dazzled by the kiss they had just shared she nodded in acceptance.

Both women were so distracted with trying to calm and console each other that they failed to see how Kane and Anya had been staring at the two of them. They both knew how Lexa felt about the Doctor, which made them understand the brunette's concern and pain because of the lack of leads that were obtaining.

"Make sure you let Dr. Griffin know when the van is ready to leave." Kane said to Anya. "And take Lexa with you to headquarters and start going over recording cameras and statements from people around the area."

Anya nodded. "Where are you going?" she asked when she saw Kane head to one of the black cars.

"To talk with an old friend." Kane simply said and got inside the car.

While getting inside the car, Kane noticed that Lexa had stayed behind, probably thinking and worrying about Doctor Griffin. He had to admit that he was also worried about the safety of his team, and the fact that Mephisto had somehow created an army of old creature scared the life out of him. It had been difficult to keep his positivism around Lexa, and even harder to promise her Doctor Griffin was going to be safe.

He could explain to his team all of this later, but right now he knew that there was only one person in Boston that could help him keep his promise to Lexa. He understood the importance of Dr. Griffin to the investigation and why Mephisto would be targeting her. He also learned about the creature's hatred towards the Griffin's and how it was capable of controlling people and making them do its bidding.

Not one place was safe for the Doctor, or even Lexa for that matter. He knew the woman was stubborn, hell, that was why he even considered her for the Special Unit. Nevertheless, that stubbornness and her love for the Doctor was going to get her killed. Yeah, he had been aware of the way both women had been attracted to each other when he introduced them in their first crime scene. But now he saw that there wasn't only attraction there, but love, one that he had noticed when both women had killed the assassin hired by Mephisto during the graveyard ambush. He saw the fierceness and protectiveness in Lexa's eyes as she stood right in front of the doctor. At the same time, he also saw how the doctor had been pointing her gun decisively at the door and probably without any doubt of shooting anyone that could hurt the brunette. 

The time to be cautious needed to come to an end, and although he had always felt proud of being one of the few clean cops in Boston; he also understood when he needed help, a help that he wouldn't be capable of obtain through official channels.

When he saw the familiar bars of South Boston's Irish part he exhaled, and after a few more turns he finally got out of the car and told the driver to leave and head to headquarters. He would find a way back to the station by himself, and preferably, if something went wrong, the driver could tell his team where he dropped him off.

He exhaled, and with determination he entered O'Malley's, an old but very famous bar that was frequented by the Irish mafia. No sane cop would willingly go inside, specially without back-up, but right now he didn't have the time to worry about thinking things through. He had one goal only, and if his suspicions were correct, the people inside the bar would at least hear what he had to say before killing him.

As soon as he entered the bar he saw men aiming their guns at him, clearly aware of his position as a cop. He raised his hands.

"My name is Marcus Kane and I'm a sergeant detective with Boston PD." he said. "I came to talk to Jake Griffin."

The men in the bar started to laugh, clearly amused by his request. "Are you for real?" he heard one of the men say while pointing his gun at him. "This is either a trap or you are the stupidest man on earth."

 _I think I am,_ Kane thought to himself.

"This is no trap." he said while opening his shirt and showing them all that he was not wearing a mic. "I came to see Jake because of what happened at the graveyard."

This made all the laughing in the bar stop, and for once he was met with total silence. One of the men walked and stood up in front of him. "We already know what happened there." he spat at Kane. "And from what we have heard, Boston PD is still lost in that one."

"Yeah, but not the Special Unit." he looked around when he saw the men stare at a corner. _Jake is hearing all of this._

"And I know what is chasing you. It's the same creature that's chasing your daughter, Dr. Griffin."

As soon as he said her name there was a gun pointed at his face, and turning around he saw Jake fiercely looking at him. "If you want to keep your brain inside your head then you will come with me, no questions asked."

Kane nodded, not  expecting something else, and without further ado he was led out of the bar and into what seemed to be an old storage room. Jake Griffin was just staring at him, and instead of feeling intimidated by the mafia man he realized that right now he was not a criminal but a parent that cared her daughter. It all made sense now.

"I know of your relationship to the creature Mephisto." Kane started to say. "How he is a relative of the Griffins and a sworn enemy after he made a deal with the devil."  he explained. "I also know that your family has been trying to destroy the creature for many centuries."

When Jake stayed quiet he knew that he could continue speaking.

"We also found that Abby Griffin, your wife, was a Banshee and that Dr. Griffin was given to her when she was just a baby. Nevertheless, we know that your relationship to Dr. Griffin is deeper than mere family last name."

When Jake didn't deny this he kept going. "Dr. Griffin is your daughter, isn't it?"

Jake looked up and nodded.

"Did your wife know this?" he asked quietly.

"No, she never knew. I kept it from her so that she and the baby would be protected. When she married and changed her last name to Griffin I feared the repercussions of doing this. But since the child was given to Abby it could be assumed that she was not mine, and hence that protected them from my father's wrath." Jake explained. "But I knew all along that Clarke was my biological daughter."  

"Why keep it from Dr. Griffin, why did you leave your wife and daughter alone?"

"I was mistaken." Jake whispered sadly. "And my enemies learned of my weakness and hence many time tried to dispose of them.  Soon enough Abby told me that we had to place Clarke first and that was the moment they started moving around the world; trying to keep my daughter hidden." he said sadly. "I had to protect Clarke. She had to be safe, and the only way that could ever occur was if she never knew of her true bond with the Griffins."

"What happened in the graveyard..."

"Was a setup made by Mephisto with the help of a mole." he said angrily.

"Carlota Florenci." Kane said.

"Carlota Florenci?" Jake asked surprised. "If there is one person that I would never suspect of betraying us it would be Carlota Florenci."

Kane was perplexed. "But she told Detective Woods and your daughter to go to the graveyard to talk to you. She led them to the trap."

Jake denied it. "You must be mistaken. Carlota Florenci would have never done that."

"And why are you so sure about that? She had motives, she had the means and after the ambush she disappeared."

Jake stared deeply at Kane. "In our world, way before we had people like you be aware of its existence, we had what you would call an oracle. This oracle predicted the rise of Mephisto." he said seriously. "And it also predicted that there would be two women, from Boston's oldest families, that could defeat him if they did it together."

Kane looked up, completely shocked. "And you suspect one is of them is Dr. Griffin."

He nodded. "Based on what I have seen and heard, she does have exceptional abilities, abilities that evolve with lived experiences; which is a trait that can only come from being a member of an old family."

"Like the Griffins from Ireland."

Jake nodded. "The oracle also said that they would meet under one common goal which is the elimination of evil." he looked up at Kane. "Which then made me suspect that the second woman of the prophecy is Detective Woods." he added.

"But Lexa is not a member of an old family. Her family came with immigrants when the city needed workers."

"Her adoptive family did." Jake said. "The Woods adopted her when she was child too."

Kane was completely taken aback with everything Jake was telling him. "And how do you know all of this?"

"Because Carlota Florenci is the oracle that made the prophecy." he said while standing up and opening a door.

Kane saw an old woman make her way towards the table where they were talking, and after sitting down at one of the empty chairs she nodded at Jake and him. "

"And she was the one responsible of giving Lexa to the Woods." Jake revealed.  

CLCLCLCL

It had been hours since they had seen Kane, and although Anya told her to wait for a little longer, Lexa was getting worried. They had made their way back to headquarters, and after inspecting the things found at the crime scene, they had all been expecting the sergeant to come back from his strange meeting.

"I'm sure he is on his way back." Anya said while also feeling a little nervous.

"You told me the same thing 2 hours ago." Lexa said exasperated. "And why isn't he answering his phone?"

"I don't know Lexa. All I know is that he took one of the cars and asked us to wait until he returned." the younger detective explained.

"Does he do this often?"

"Never." Anya confessed.

"Then why are you so calm when we can't even be sure of who to trust? Perhaps Kane was captured or something of the sort." Lexa was moving around the room in circles.

"He asked us to wait and 2 hours, although it seems like a lot, is not really that much time. I know you're worried Lexa, and believe me so am I, but let's think with our heads. For all we know he could be talking to a C.I."

"Perhaps." Lexa exhaled. "But I don't like this. Kane keeping secrets from us yet again." the brunette took her phone out and noticed a text. "Clarke said that she has some leads for the murder of fake Carlota and to meet her at the autopsy room." she said to Anya who nodded and followed her.

"She won't talk to me." Anya confessed.

"Clarke?" Lexa asked.

"Raven." the younger brunette said exasperated. "I have tried to apologize but she's not even listening to me."

"You did screw up." Lexa chuckled. "What did you expect, for you to simply say sorry and be welcomed back with arms wide open? Not only did you question their professionalism but also their integrity as individuals."

"I know I fucked up." Anya whispered while getting inside the elevator. "But how can I promise to be better when I'm not even given a second chance."

"Clarke is allowing you to come to the autopsy brief, perhaps this is her way of showing you that she's accepted your apology." Lexa tried to be positive. "Use this opportunity to show Raven that you respect her."

"Of course I respect Raven. I think I may even be in love with her."

"All of these things you're now telling me, have you told them to her?"

Anya looked down in embarrassment. "I haven't."

"Why not?" Lexa asked

"What if she doesn't feel them back?" Anya whispered.

"She wouldn't be this upset if she didn't care about you Anya." Lexa said honestly. "It's either taking the shot or losing Raven forever. Because I suspect that the woman is stubborn and proud. And so are you." she chuckled at the face her partner made. "Which means you'll have to be the one apologizing and opening up."

"I just want her back." Anya confessed. "It's like it's so empty without her. Having her gone has made me notice how intertwined our lives have become."

"I know how you feel." the brunette said honestly. "So trust me on this and tell her how you feel."

"I will. The moment we're alone." Anya promised.

CLCLCLCL

Meanwhile, Clarke had been doing the autopsy, completely unaware of Sergeant Kane's absence, at least until she heard some lab technicians talking about it. She was still surprised at how fast gossip could travel around the different departments of the Boston PD.

Instantly worried about Lexa and how she was holding up, she quickly sent a text to the brunette and asked her to come down so they could discuss the autopsy results.  She  knew that the best way to make a person forget about something that troubled them was by using distraction. She knew how much the detectives cared about Sergeant Kane, and that was because they were not used to Sergeant Kane leaving without telling anyone where he was going to be.  And today was definitely not a good day to do this, at least not after the things they had found at their latest crime scene.

"Clarke." Clarke heard Lexa say while going inside the room with a sorrowful Anya following behind. "I heard that you have the results from the autopsy."

Clarke smiled softly and nodded.

"The cause of  death was asphyxiation." she said while taking out a picture and pointing at the neck. "After cleaning the body from the acid on top of it, I was able to notice the bruises on her neck."

"These are very big hands." Lexa said. "Probably male?"

"Yes, and notice how one side only has four fingers marked." Clarke said.

Lexa noticed what Clarke was saying. "So then the killer has four fingers on one hand?"

"Most probably, and based on his hands' proportion he is 1.90 or taller."

"That is tall." Lexa said while motioning for Anya to approach them. "Anya, open the search tool and put the following key terms: 1.90 or taller, four fingers in one hand and from South Boston."

"Why would you assume the killer is from South Boston?" Clarke asked surprised.

"Because it is very common for mafia members to have lost fingers." Anya explained while squirming a little. "You know, as punishment or a payment of some debt."

Clarke nodded and noticed that Anya wanted to ask her something but didn't know how to.

"What is it you want to know detective Trikru?" she asked instead.

"Is Dr. Reyes here?" Anya whispered.

"She left a couple of hours ago. Said she wasn't feeling well." Clarke answered honestly.

"Got it." Anya looked down.

"It's clear she misses you just as much as you miss her." the blonde added and Anya looked up in surprise. "I know that look in your eyes very well because it's the same one she has had since you two fought."

"Told you so." Lexa joked softly.

"Go to her." Clarke advised her with a soft smile. "Why suffer separately when you can be happy together?"

"It's complicated." Anya murmured.

"It's not. You simply apologize and she either accepts your apology or not." the doctor said and Lexa chuckled. "But not knowing will always be worse."

"I guess I could see that." Lexa said in agreement, but before she added something else she noticed Kane at the door.

And he wasn't alone.

Clarke noticed Lexa's change in demeanor and she turned around towards the door to notice that Sergeant Kane had come back, along with Carlota Florenci and her father. The three newcomers looked uncomfortable, and after holding her breath, especially after doing an autopsy on a body that looked just like the one of Carlota Florenci, Clarke felt herself being pushed to the side while Lexa stood up in front of her.

"What the hell is going on Kane?" Lexa asked angrily. "What are you doing with our suspect and...?"

"My father." Clarke said bitterly and noticed him flinch.

"Lexa, we all need to talk." Kane said while standing in front of both women. "Things have changed completely."

"What has changed Kane? The woman behind you sent us to a trap that almost got Clarke and I killed! Tell me why I shouldn't just go ahead and arrest her for accessory to mass murder?" she then looked at Lexa. "And why should I even let him get close to Clarke? I will not let him hurt her again."

"Because I wasn't the one you spoke to when you went my apartment in North Boston." the woman said from afar. "The person you spoke to is currently laying on your autopsy table, killed after accomplishing its mission." 

"Lexa." Kane pleaded. "I ask you to trust me."

Lexa looked again at the woman and at Jake Griffin. Her eyes then went to the woman she loved, and after noticing a determined and reassuring gaze, she nodded in agreement.

"But we can't talk here. It has to be somewhere where there are no cameras." Kane pointed towards a door and asked them all to follow him.

"If things turn out for the worst I want you to take your gun and leave us behind. I want you to run back here and close the door on us."

"I won't leave you Lexa." Clarke hissed angrily. "So don't ask me to."

"But your father..."

"Is not a current concern of mine except for his involvement in this investigation." the blonde whispered and moved forward.

Lexa didn't like this at all, but nevertheless followed along.

Clarke could see Lexa's discomfort, and instead of giving her space she grabbed her by the hip and held her close. She could feel her father staring at her and this made her feel uncomfortable, almost as if she was all he could focus on.

Kane took them through some tunnels, and after explaining to Lexa that they used these rooms for special interrogations, the five of them sat down at a decrepit table. Lexa looked at Clarke shaking because of her nerves, and smiling softly she grabbed the blonde's hand and squeezed it tightly, trying to reassure her that things would be ok.

Clarke squeezed it back and stared at Sergeant Kane expectantly, waiting for an explanation for all the secrecy and strange allies.

"When I left the crime scene I went to speak to Jake Griffin." Kane started to say. "Hoping to get some protection for Dr. Griffin since she is a relative of his."

"I thought you said that you didn't know where Jake Griffin was. Did you lie yet again?" Lexa asked him immediately.

"I didn't know where he was. I went to a bar where his people go to and hoped he would be there. It was almost as if fate wanted me to talk to him." Kane explained.  "And when I could finally speak to him he told me many shocking things that you both need to know."

"Like maybe what creature was impersonating you?" Lexa asked sarcastically to Carlota. "Or why was it impersonating you?"

"Well, first of all young lady, you will speak to me with more respect. I'm not just a random creature that you can boss around. I am the Oracle." Carlota said angrily.

Clarke froze. "The Oracle? I thought that was a myth."

"Come on Clarke, are you seriously going to fall for that?" Lexa said amused.  

"No Lex, you don't understand. The Oracle has been around us since the beginning of civilization and came to Boston when the old families settled here. Famiies like the Griffins." she finished while looking at her father who was still quiet.

"The Oracle made a prophecy, about the two of you." Kane said softly. "About how two women from Boston's oldest families would get together in order to defeat Mephisto."

"So that's why Mephisto wants us dead? Because of some prophecy you said?" Lexa asked sarcastically. "Come on Kane. Is that why it wants you death as well? Because you prophesized his demise?" she stared at Carlota.

"No, it wants me dead because of what I know about you." Carlota spat back. "About how I traveled to Boston with a young baby girl and gave her to a family of poor Egyptian immigrants who were trying to have a child of their own."

"So that's how my father knew your name." Lexa said quietly. "You gave me to her."

Carlota nodded. "It was the only way to protect you."

"Protect me from what? The truth?!" Lexa spat angrily.

"Protect you from the same creature responsible for killing your family." Carlota said sadly. "After I made the prophecy Mephisto went on a killing rampage. It tracked all of the oldest families and murdered them, expecting to kill the ancestors of the two children that would be able to defeat him. One thing that he didn't count on was the fact that one child would come from his own family." she finished while looking at Clarke.

"Me?" she asked shocked. "You must be mistaken. I have no special ability..."

"That's not true." Jake finally said. "You have something far more valuable than that. Let Carlota finish."

"Jake is right. You may not have the same ability of replication as Lexa does." she said while staring at both women. "But what you have is the direct bloodline of Mephisto, which makes you the only one capable of actually killing it."

"So basically only a Griffin can kill Mephisto?" Anya said.

"Only a Griffin with the help of a replicator can do it." Carlota said. "And as Abby told you, the fact that your ability can evolve with experience means that you have the power to be one of the two children of the prophecy."

"But it doesn't make sense." Clarke said. "I was adopted by Abby, which means that I'm not biologically related to her. And the only way I would be able to be a direct descendant is if I were her daughter or..." she suddenly froze. "yours." she stared at Jake.

Lexa immediately realized what this meant, and after looking at Jake Griffin all of Clarke's suspicions were confirmed. "You are Clarke'ss father."

Jake nodded and to confirm it he tried to grab Clarke's hand, who took it away from him. "You have to understand, it was all done to protect you!"

"To protect me?!" Clarke screamed. "To protect me from a deranged creature that has been responsible for killing thousands of people?! Well, I guess you did a very good job at that." she spat at him.

Lexa saw Jake flinch at Clarke's remark, and although she didn't mind too much about him, she knew how painful this could be for Clarke. "Clarke." she started to say.

"No Lexa, don't  'Clarke' me." she kept on saying angrily. "I'm tired of the lies and the secrets. For once in my life I want to know the truth."

"And you deserve to know it." Jake said while standing up. "That's why Carlota and I are here. We will tell you both everything we know."

"Why do it now? Why didn't you do it sooner?" Lexa asked angrily.

"We didn't do it before because I just woke up." Carlota said.

"The Oracle goes into a deep slumber for many years and only wakes up when she has a new prophecy." Clarke explained worriedly. "And you just had one, didn't you?"

Carlota nodded. "I'm afraid it's one that involves both of you yet again."

"Then tell us." Lexa said anxiously, not noticing that she had accepted that she was a part of the prophecy. "It's the least you can d after all the lies and secrets."

"You don't understand Lexa." Kane said. "Once an Oracle tells the prophecy to the people involved in them they are forced to either accomplish it or die trying."

Lexa froze, suddenly realizing what Kane meant. "So we would be bound to it."

Carlota nodded. "That would be the price you would have to pay for knowing the future."

"Yeah, some future." Lexa said sarcastically. She turned around and focused on Clarke. "We don't have to do this." she said. "We could just leave right now and keep doing what we have been doing for all these years."

"Live in fear and lies?" Clarke asked quietly. "No Lex. I know you too well and I know you don't want that."

"You are right, I don't." Lexa said fiercely. "But I don't want to lose you either, which is a risk that could come if we go down this path."

"But if we run, what kind of life will we have Lexa? One of hiding and of never being truly free?" Clarke whispered sadly. "I want to live a life in which I can show everyone how much I love you. One in which we can think of our future and not worry about us being killed or chased down by a deranged creature,. One in which we could even have a family." she finished with tears in her eyes. "And I know we won't have any of that if we keep hiding."

"I don't know if I can protect you Clarke." Lexa whispered sadly.

"And I don't know if I can protect you as well Lexa, but what I do know is that I want more." the blonde said fiercely. "And together we can do anything we want change. I believe that. I know you'll have my back."

Lexa stared deeply at Clarke. "I also want more."

"Good." Clarke said while grabbing Lexa's hand and kissing it deeply. "Then it's settled." she said while looking at Carlota, who had stayed speechless at the exchange. "Tell us the prophecy."

Carlota nodded, and right in front of all of them her eyes turned white while her body surrounded itself in a white light that made the two women close their eyes.

 When they opened them again they saw that they were alone except Carlota, who was staring deeply at them.

" _Together at last the two women have arrived_

_Ready to face Mephisto's evil desires_

_In the deepest of nights_

_They will lose a shining knight_

_And on humanity's last day_

_They will finish what the old families started faraway."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know! A lot of things happen in this chapter, which makes me want to write a few clarifications.
> 
> 1\. JLexa hasn't forgotten to ask Carlota about her real family, but Lexa, being her usual self-less person, is focusing more on protecting Clarke. But don't worry, this question will be answered soon.
> 
> 2\. Clarke knows that she is the daughter of Jake, but still has no clue of who her biological mother is. Will be discussed.
> 
> 3\. Kane came from South Boston, reason why he knew where he could find member of Jake's gang.
> 
> 4\. The shifter that they found on the crime scene was the responsible one of sending Lexa and Clarke to the trap. How did it knew about Lexa being adopted? It knew because Mephisto is aware of Lexa's true identity as a child of the prophecy, which is the reason why it is also chasing her. Remember, Mephisto is an old creature that has contacts everywhere (I will say in future episodes how it exactly found out about Lexa's adoption).
> 
> 5\. A prophecy, I know! I wanted Carlota to be an Oracle because it does make sense with her ability as a seer, and instead of making her be evil I wanted her to be an asset to the team, along with Jake Griffin as a man that would do anything for Clarke to seek redemption for his mistakes. 
> 
> 6\. Will talk more about his bond with Clarke's biological mother and Abby in future chapters. 
> 
> Any other questions you have please ask them and I will answer! :)


	19. Irish Think About Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn more about Clarke and Lexa's background, Clarke warns Jake about hurting Lexa and Carlota is her usual sassy self.

When Lexa saw Carlota's eyes shine she knew that what she was seeing was the real thing. Maybe up until that moment she had refused to believe that Carlota was the Oracle and how serious this oracle could be. Nevertheless here she was, holding Clarke's hand and scarily looking at the older woman who started to levitate and speak in many tongues.  Still, the one thing that was clear was the prophecy that bounded the two of them to an awful mission, or quest or whatever all of this was. She saw that Clarke was also scared, and that the bravery she had infused on the two of them was slowly melting. They had never seen such a thing before, and from Kane's face it seemed that he was just as speechless as they were.

When the voices stopped talking and the older woman finally landed on the floor with her eyes closed, they all knew that it was over. Lexa felt herself breathe, and that was the moment she realized that she had been holding her breath and Clarke's hand in a very tight squeeze that had left marks.

Carlota opened her eyes and looked at the two women as if nothing had ever happened. Meanwhile, Clarke had been completely fascinated by what she had just seen. The number of people aware of the existence of the Oracle, or to actually see the Oracle say a prophecy, was very limited.  

 _But wait, the Oracle just did a prophecy about Lexa and me,_ Clarke remembered and the scientific excitement that she had felt before left her body immediately. Instead, the blonde felt fear become her core emotion, her nervous system shutting down and not reacting to her commands. She was literally frozen, and all of this occurred because of a prophecy that they had volunteered to hear. She had even convinced Lexa of doing the same, a decision that had probably sentenced  both of them to death. Clarke couldn't take Lexa's life and throw it away like that, she just couldn't do that to the person she loved the most.

Clarke started to hyperventilate as soon as she realized what she had done.

"Clarke!" Lexa screamed after watching the blonde lose her balance and almost fall to the floor.

Kane noticed this too and just before Clarke hit the floor he grabbed her and held her still. "Are you ok Dr. Griffin?"

Lexa saw that Clarke wasn't responding, her stare blank and just gazing at the wall.

"The hell you did to her?!"Lexa screamed to Carlota. "What did you do?"

Carlota shrugged. "I did nothing."

Jake nodded. "She is in a state of shock. Probably from hearing the prophecy."

Lexa looked angrily at the two of them. "I bet you think you have done a good thing by telling us the truth, a little redemption." she continued while focusing on Jake. "But you did not. What you did does not make things become a bed of roses. What you did was wrong, sentencing us to this life and this prophecy because of your past." she spat at him.

Jake lowered his gaze, and instead of answering he quietly stood up and left the room, followed by Carlota who had become similar to a shadow of him. Kane on the other hand had stayed, expecting Lexa to tell him what to do.

"Lexa..."

"Don't..." the brunette interrupted him by pushing him away from Clarke. "I understand your reasons, and hell I would have done the same." she continued while placing her hands on the blonde's face and caressing her. "But you had no right to decide this for us."

"I didn't decide anything."

"Yes you did." Lexa said angrily. "You did and I understand why you did it. You have a city and probably the entire world to protect." she continued sadly. "But I also have someone to protect Kane, and that person is standing right in front of us." she looked at Clarke and bent down, softly kissing her lips.

After a while she felt Clarke kiss her back, her lips sucking and softly biting her own. Lexa looked down and saw green eyes staring deeply at her with love and sadness.

"Clarke." Lexa said reverently. "What is wrong?"

Clarke felt tears come to her eyes. "I'm sorry Lex, I'm so sorry." she whispered while starting to cry softly.

"Clarke." the detective said seriously. "I know what you are thinking. And you didn't take this decision alone."

Clarke now started to cry loudly, making Kane feel like an outsider to the scene. He quietly stood from where he had been bending down with Lexa and left the room. The two women didn't even notice him.

"Honey, you did not." Lexa continued saying while planting soft kisses on Clarke's face. "You did not force me to choose this. I did it because I also want to be able to live a life with you, and I know that that won't happen until we are free from this prophecy."

"But if something happens..."

"If something happens then it was completely worth it." Lexa interrupted her. "You  know I'm a little skeptic about this whole destiny and fate thing."  she stood up. "But it seems that we were meant to be together. And I know it may be a little self-centered of me to assume this, but it seems that we were meant to be together so we could fix this."

"So we were meant then to die together?" Clarke asked bitterly.

"No darling. We were meant to succeed together." Lexa answered fiercely. "We don't and we won't give in to fear."

Clarke simply nodded, and deciding that this was the moment to show all of her fears and doubts, she searched for Lexa's eyes. "I'm so scared."

Lexa looked at Clarke and nodded. "Me too." she confessed  "In fact, I have never been so scared in my entire life." she huffed. "But I have also never had anything worth fighting for. Not until I met you, Clarke Griffin."

"Clarke Josephine Griffin." the blonde said while smiling softly.

"Josephine? Are you serious?" Lexa said while laughing. "Josephine is your middle name?"

Clarke looked at Lexa a little offended but then smiled. "I never disliked it. But I can also see the reasons for mocking it." she then smiled more. "C           an you tell me yours?"

Lexa looked a little mortified. She didn't want to admit to Clarke that her name was also funny. The doctor noticed the brunette hesitate.

"Pleaseee." Clarke said while pouting. She knew Lexa found this gesture of hers enduring. "Please tell meeee."

Lexa pouted as well. She knew that when Clarke did that face she would do anything the blonde asked of her. "Marjorie." she whispered.

Clarke smiled a little and Lexa saw this.

"Don't laugh." Lexa said while smiling a little.

"I'm not laughing." the blonde said while holding a laugh. "I actually find your name very beautiful. Like you."

Lexa smirked but then kissed her on the lips chastely. "Nice try." she laughed. "But you are still not forgiven. Now." she said while grabbing Clarke's hand and squeezing it. "Let's go kick this prophecy's ass."

CLCLCLCL

When Clarke and Lexa made it out of the special interrogation room, they saw Kane, Jake and Carlota sitting around the homicide headquarters without talking to each other. It was a little ironic that the only thing that made these people function together was the two of them. When they noticed them get closer they quickly stood up and started to make their way towards them. Lexa raised her hand and the three of them stopped moving forward

"Listen. Just because we are here that doesn't mean that we are less mad at you. You all lied to us and in a way manipulated us. Nevertheless, we understand the reasons why. And most probably..." Lexa said besides herself. " I would have done the same."

Jake took this as encouragement enough to approach Clarke. "I cannot begin to..."

"Don't." Clarke interrupted him coldly. "Just because Lexa said that we understood, that doesn't mean that we have forgiven what you did. Specially me." she said angrily. "You lied to my mother about your relationship to me, about our blood. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to believe that I was the adopted child no one wanted? That I was abandoned because I wasn't good enough?"

Jake was going to interrupt her again but Clarke just kept on going.

"And the sad thing is that this is not far from the truth. I was abandoned and I wasn't wanted. I always imagined finding my parents and their reaction. And they were happy to see me. So happy for finding me and wanting me to be with them. You are not my father. And my mother, my true mother, died a few weeks ago trying to save my life from a creature that you knew was a danger and still refused to let us know. It doesn't matter what you think, or what you tell yourself, because it doesn't change the outcome of who you really are: A killer and a liar."

Everyone at the room stayed quiet after Clarke's speech. Not even Lexa, who was beaming with pride over what the blonde had said, could utter a word. She was proud about Clarke finally telling others what bothered her and standing up for herself. The Clarke she met all those months ago when she began working for the Special Homicide Unit was one that kept her emotions and feelings in a shell. But now, the Clarke that was standing in front of all of them, was making one of Boston's most feared mafia men silently stare at her with fear.

The silence was interrupted when Carlota decided that the two women had said what they wanted to say. "Listen you two. I know we didn't do this the right away, if there is even one right way of doing so, but now that you decided to accept the prophecy you need our help."

"No disrespect to all of you, but we have managed without the two of you just fine and I think we can keep doing that." Lexa huffed.

"Managed in what way? Here you are without a murderer and with bodies pilling up in the morgue. Your lives have been in danger numerous times and still you are stubborn enough to say that you don't need help." Carlota said sarcastically. "Your Achilles tendon is your pride Lexa. Don't let it rule your decisions because it may cost you dearly."

Lexa immediately looked up at her.   "Is that some kind of threat?"

Clarke had to stop the brunette from going towards the old woman. "Lexa, don't." she said while holding her still.  

But Carlota kept on pushing the hot-tempered Egyptian. "It's not a threat but reality. The worst is that it may not only hurt you but it could hurt Clarke as well."

That was all it took for Lexa to get away from Clarke's hold and to directly jump to where Carlota was standing. But instead of tackling the woman down, Lexa felt herself fall to the ground and hit her face with the floor.

"What the hell?" Lexa started to say while getting up.

Clarke was just as speechless as the brunette was, especially since she saw Lexa just jump right in front of Carlota and go through her as if she was made out of thin air.

"You silly girl." Carlota started to say while laughing. "And you say you don't need help."

Lexa was getting up again. "Oh, I'm a fast learner Carlota."

"Lexa, don't." Kane finally intervened. "She is right. You need their help, especially HER help. There are so many things that you don't know about this world Lexa. Even you Dr. Griffin don't know everything there is to know about ancient creatures."

"To protect you from this world also meant to keep you away from it." Jake  said, looking mostly at Clarke. "And although you hate to admit it, you do need Carlota's help. You need to know where your quest starts."

"That I already know." Clarke said, making all of the people in the room look at her. "It made sense after you told us the prophecy. I figured it out because firs it had to do with the fact that Mephisto is from the Griffin family, who come from Ireland. After that I confirmed my suspicions when I told you about my previous trip to Ireland and how it seemed as if Mephisto had planned it all." the blonde explained while staring at Lexa. "And final clue was within the prophecy, it saying that we need to finish what our families started centuries ago."

"Which means?" Lexa asked impatiently.

"It means that we have to go to Ireland."

"Ireland?" the brunette said almost laughing. "But it's impossible I come from Ireland. I mean look at me."

"Old families with abilities do not have to necessarily come from the same ethnology, but they can settle there." Carlota said instead.

"So then you are saying that my real family also came from Ireland?"

"Yes." Carlota said. "But they were originally from Egypt. They moved to Ireland because of the prophecy."

"But you said that this prophecy is new." Clarke said confused.

"I was talking about the prophecy that they heard during that time." Carlota said. "Oracles give many prophecies around the world to many people. Your family was one more of the group." she finished.

Clarke scolded Carlota for her lack of touch. "I'm sure they were very important, Lexa, and that they were also very upset about giving you up." she said to the brunette who looked up at her and smiled sadly.  

"Which means that you will also need my help. I have many contacts in Ireland." Jake said.

"And how did you get these contacts?" Lexa asked sarcastically. "I bet these are not people we would want to be seen with during the daylight."

Jake nodded, ignoring Lexa's sarcasm. "But they will protect you from anything. They are family. And Griffins always protect other Griffins."

"Like you protected my mother, your wife?" Clarke hissed angrily.

"Abigail went against my orders and dodged my bodyguards. I told her to be careful and safe but she just wouldn't listen."

"She didn't listen because she wanted to warn Clarke." Lexa answered angrily. "She did her duty as a mother and didn't care about putting her own life at risk in order to save her daughter's. Unlike others who hide in the shadows behind other people."

In a flash Clarke saw how Lexa's words hurt Jake, who took a step towards the detective, who immediately took her hand to the holster that was holding her gun. Clarke moved so she could stand between the two of them.

"Don't you even think about hurting Lexa."  she threatened her father.

"She disrespected me. From you I accept it because you are my daughter, but I'm Jake Griffin."

"What she did was tell you the truth. It's not her fault that you don't like what she's saying and the way it makes you look like." Clarke said quietly. "And if I ever find out that you want, or plan to do something to hurt Lexa, I promise you that I will hunt you down and kill you myself. Is that clear?"

Jake nodded and immediately stepped back.

"Then it's settled." Carlota said while going to the door. "You two will meet me at the entrance of BCU at 7:00 tomorrow morning. I'm a very busy woman so plan to be on time. There are a lot of things we need to discuss before you leave."

"But my case..." Lexa started to say.

"This is part of your case." Carlota answered the detective. "Your case now became a quest Detective Woods. And one that you cannot afford to lose."


End file.
